Although TV shows tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however directly or indirectly, were nothing new when WandaVision premiered to those with a Disney+ subscription at the start of 2021, the show was the first to be directly produced by Marvel Studios. At the same time, Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff was also set to return in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the 28th of the Marvel movies in order, so WandaVision was in a prime position to set up her appearance there. While the series did do that in a few ways, it turns out that Stephen Strange himself also almost factored into the WandaVision finale, and it would have made a great tease for his sequel movie.
Following the release of Agatha All Along’s final two episodes, Variety published its interview with showrunner Jackson Schaeffer, who also carried out those same duties on WandaVision. In contrast with most MCU projects, there was no post-credits scene tacked onto the eventful two-part Agatha finale, which prompted interviewer Adam B. Vary to ask Schaeffer if she had ever written a tag that wasn’t used, but was “particularly proud of” that she could talk about. She answered:
Yes. I’ll tell you this one, because it’s been a long time, and so maybe the statute of limitations is up on it. Initially, Doctor Strange was going to appear in the tag for WandaVision. It’s Wanda sitting on the porch of that cabin, and she’s rocking peacefully. And you know how Strange can do those circles around someone, and make them go somewhere? The circle starts around her, like she’s going to be teleported somewhere, and she stops it, so Strange has to show up in person. I just loved that so much, that Wanda would be like, ‘No, I’m not going to go where you want to teleport me. You’re going to have to come to my door.’ It was a good one, but another tag took its place.
Although Doctor Strange and Wanda Maximoff never shared any significant screen time together prior to Multiverse of Madness, their paths did cross during the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame. So these two were at least familiar with each other, and since WandaVision ending with Elizabeth Olsen’s character becoming The Scarlet Witch, she’d definitely be in a position to decline Stephen Strange transporting him through one of those inter-dimensional portals, which I find amusing. Jac Schaeffer didn’t share why this tag was removed, and while it’s a shame the scene wasn’t shot, I wouldn’t be surprised if it boiled down to scheduling conflicts with Benedict Cumberbatch.
So Strange and Wanda’s meeting at her cabin retreat, where he ended up learning she was the one who was hunting down America Chavez, was kept confined to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Instead, WandaVision teased Doctor Strange 2 by showing Wanda studying the Darkhold in her astral form, and then hearing her sons Billy and Tommy crying for help. This foreshadowed her search for other versions of her twin boys in alternate universes, i.e. ones who actually existed rather than creations from her time in Westview. By the end of Multiverse of Madness, Wands realized the error of her ways and sacrificed herself to destroy all copies of the Darkhold in the Marvel multiverse, though it remains to be seen if she’s actually dead.
Although Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ mid-credits scene laid the groundwork for Doctor Strange 3, Marvel Studios hasn’t officially announced the threequel. If/when the company does, you’ll find it in our guide detailing the upcoming Marvel movies.
