For the longest time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we had one universe, and (mostly) one timeline to go and work with (don’t get us started on Avengers Endgame…). But, with one show and one movie, that all got shattered. That TV show was Loki, and that movie was Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness. Both shows established the Multiverse and teased what’s coming. But if you aren’t really sure how it all works…we’ll help you out.
In Loki, they explained that the TVA (Time Variance Authority) was in the “main universe” to ensure that the “chosen timeline” was the online timeline that existed, and they did that for an untold amount of time. Then, at the end, we meet “He Who Remains”, a Variant (multiversal copy) of the infamous Marvel Comcis villain Kang The Conqueror. Who noted the Multiverse DID exist before, then a massive war broke out in which he won and made the universes into one singular entity and timeline. When Sylvie killed him, the Multiverse lived once again without issue.
And that brings us to Doctor Strange, where we got to see the Multiverse in various ways (including yes, Spider-Man No Way Home but that was a different thing…kind of, it’s complicated). As we see Strange going to multiple universes via the dimensional traveler America Chavez.
It’s here we learn why multiversal traveling can be dangerous. There is a “fabric” between realities, and if one from one universe leaves too much of a footprint in another? That fabric is worn down and an “Incursion” can occur, where the two universes go on a crash course that could leave one or both destroyed.
Which we get to see happen (kind of) at the mid-credits sequence where the arriving Clea states that Strange himself caused one and they need to prevent it.
Now, as to where we go from here…that’s the mystery. Because Loki Season 2 is going to deal with this in part, and Kang the Conqueror is going to be the villain in Ant-Man: Quantumania next year, plus, there’s going to be a third Doctor Strange movie no doubt. So there’s that too.
So while the Multiverse may not have gotten off on the smoothest of ways, it is all connecting now, and it’s painting quite a picture of what might happen in the MCU next.
Source: Screenrant.
