New concept art from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness reveals an alternate version of Pandemonium.
Thomas of Crest
Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness was pitched as the MCU’s first horror movie, and while the film certainly had some disturbing moments, it didn’t quite push the boundaries as many expected. Working within the constraints of the PG-13 rating made it a bit difficult for director Sam Raimi to bring his horror A-game to the franchise. Still, thanks to new concept art from the movie, it’s clear there was a much darker universe waiting to be discovered by Benedict Cumberbatch’s wizard.
Sharing concept art for the MCU’s first and highest grossing movie of 2022, artist Thomas du Crest finds Strange discovering a desert littered with corpses from his multiverse variants in footage that could have been truly gruesome if played back on screen. With the skeletons of some variants strewn across the sand and others pinned to spikes, the art also suggests an entirely different collaboration in the film, with Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Karl Mordo and a not-evil Wanda Maximoff joining Wong and Strange in the scene .
While not much information is given about the art, du Crest leaves a description stating that the piece is the Incursion Universe and notes that it is “Early Explorations for the Incursion Universe”. At that point it was more like a desert full of dead Strange variants. It seems this universe is the one that instead became the crumbling reality where Strange fought himself with musical notes. There are probably fans on both sides of the coin flip that could have been the better version.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ended 2022 as Marvel’s highest-grossing release
After the Covid pandemic hampered 2021, both Marvel Studios and the public had high hopes for 2022 to deliver some huge hits for the franchise and after the unexpected monster box office of Spider-Man: No Way Home. While the year didn’t bring in another $1 billion hit, Multiverse of madness came closest with a final gross of $955.8 million worldwide.
While the disappointing summer box office of Thor: Love and Thunderwhich ended the year at a low 8th place in the list of highest grossing films of 2022, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever delivered quite a punch to close out the year, though it seems similar to the Ryan Coogler-directed one Black Panther sequels will somehow fall short Multiverse of madness.
2023 will bring a slew of new Marvel movies, starting with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February, kicking off Phase 5 of the MCU and finally giving Jonathan Majors his first big screen appearance as Kang the Conqueror. Although there is still a long way to go Avengers: Secret Wars brings the multiverse saga to a close in 2026, fans have already been hyped to see the saga take off after several false starts.
Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness and Thor: Love and Thunder are now available on Disney+. They will be accompanied by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on February 1.