Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now in theatres worldwide, bringing some of the most unexpected moments in any MCU film ever made.
Doctor Strange Third Eye
The horror vibes and mystical developments came out in full force, from introducing the MCU’s version of the Illuminati to introducing a darker Doctor Strange with a third eye on his forehead.
Doctor Strange 2’s central plot revolved around the Darkhold’s influence over Wanda Maximoff, fully unleashing her as the Scarlet Witch and sending her on a rampage across the Multiverse in search of her children.
To counteract this, Strange had to dive into the Darkhold’s pages, dream walking into America Chavez’s Doctor Strange’s corpse and convincing her to believe in her powers.
Doctor Strange Third Eye Post Credit Scene Explained
Michael Waldron, the writer of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, discussed the film’s final scene, in which Strange gains a third eye in his forehead.
In a discussion with Rolling Stone, Waldron reflected on a point in the film when it “had a happy ending,” which was more than expected for a film “where a lot of bad shit happens.”
Waldron wanted to make sure the film had consequences while also paying homage to classic horror films, referencing Baron Mordo’s “The bill comes due” line in the original Doctor Strange and Wong reminding Strange of his dangerous actions in the new film:
“I felt like we had a happy ending. We were like, like, ‘Gee, you know, for a movie where a lot of bad shit happens, we got kind of a happy ending here.’ We really wrapped it up and that didn’t quite seem right. We kept thinking about what Mordo warned Strange in the first movie: ‘The bill comes due.’ It’s like Wong says, ‘You possessed your own corpse. Like, is this guy ever going to face any consequences? And it just felt like a great nod to horror movies where there’s that final twist.”
Waldron have spoken with Screen Rant about Strange’s transformation to this new form, bringing up the idea of Strange “embracing that darkness” after reading the Darkhold and performing its spells. It also raises many more questions about his new path as he travels towards the Dark Dimension with Charlize Theron’s Clea:
“The bill comes due, as Mordo warned in the first movie. He used the Darkhold to possess his own corpse and the Darkhold exacts a heavy toll. I guess the question that our tag is asking is: is Stephen embracing that darkness? What does that mean for him? What path is he going down as he meets Clea and haunts off to the Dark Dimension?”
During an interview with Vanity Fair, the director compared the ending of this film to the ending of 500 Days of Summer, noting how Christine Palmer affects his life but does not remain a part of it, though this time it includes someone with a “Third Eye.”
Waldron dissected the scene in which Strange gets the extra eyeball, questioning what this actually means for the film’s main hero, on top of the hypocritical act of causing an Incursion that Strange was afraid Wanda would end up causing:
“It was doubly exciting. It’s like, well, what if Strange has embraced this darkness a little bit? He’s figuring out how to live with this. What does that mean for our hero? That’s an interesting question to pose on its own. Now here comes Clea saying, ‘You caused an incursion. You did the thing— perhaps the very thing—you were hoping Wanda wouldn’t do. Now we’ve gotta fix it together.’ So, yeah, it just felt like a nice little tease of adventures to come.”
