Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness: 10 HUGE Missed Opportunities
2. There Wasn't The Expected What If...? Crossover
In a similar way to Loki and No Way Home, What If…? also studied the multiverse, though in a much more literal way. The viewers were actually taken to a different universe with each episode, guided through the different worlds by The Watcher.
One of these episodes focused on Doctor Strange, and that in one universe he kept losing Christine. No matter what he did, she died. This was an absolute point that drove him to the depression to find any way of stopping it. The result was a version of the master of the mystic arts far superior to that of Earth-616.
In the trailer for the Doctor Strange sequel, there was featured a Variant of Stephen that looked like a corrupted version of himself. Just about everyone put it together that this was the live-action version of Strange Supreme, in a similar way to how Captain Carter made her live-action debut in the movie. However, it turned out that What If…?, along with Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home was also ignored completely.
This wasn’t the Strange seen in animated form just the previous year, this was just another version of the character who also happened to turn bitter and evil. Surely, they could have used the same character for this and added another layer to the story.