Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hit Disney Plus on Wednesday, as well as other streaming services such as Google Play and Prime Video (for an extra fee). Thanks to the digital release’s audio commentary, we have more details about the Doctor Strange sequel’s writing process. It turns out, Ant-Man’s the Wasp originally featured in the script’s first draft as part of the Illuminati.
“I was just trying to get through the first draft of the script desperately in August of 2020. Didn’t really have a second half of the second act and had no idea where the hell I was going. And I just thought, ‘Well, why don’t I take a swing and drop the Illuminati in there?'” head writer Michael Waldron said (via The Direct).
“And swing you did,” producer Ritchie Palmer said. “Those Jonathan Hickman Illuminati comics were some of the greatest comics ever written, I think those New Avengers comics from the Secret Wars era. But, Michael, I remember reading your first draft of the Illuminati stuff and just bring in disbelief, going, ‘[Wanda] kills all the Illuminati? He had her kill all the Illuminati. We’re never going to be able to do this. Wait, can we do this? I wish we could do this.'”
Waldron continued: “Yeah, I think I watched Aliens and was just thinking about the way those Marines get massacred, and, yeah, I was glad it worked. I think originally, the Wasp was in a version of the Illuminati, and the Wasp shrunk down and flew at Wanda, and [Wanda] just clapped her hands and just smushed the Wasp in the first draft.”
The Wasp is the alias of Hope van Dyne (played by Evangeline Lilly), who first appeared in 2015’s Ant-Man and then 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. She’ll next appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, scheduled for a Feb. 17 release next year.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange, received mostly positive reviews and grossed over $900 million at the global box office. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Xochitl Gomez, Rachel McAdams and Benedict Wong.
