Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness featured a wide array of villains for the sorcerer to go up against, but there was one who did not make the final cut of the film. Now, writer Michael Waldron reveals why Nightmare was removed from the original script.
The long-awaited sequel, which arrived roughly six years after its predecessor, follows Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange through the alternate realities of the multiverse as he tries to protect teenager America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) from enemies seeking to steal her dimension-hopping powers and wreak havoc on several universes.
The film presented quite a few enemies, ranging from the octopus alien Gargantos, evil Strange corrupted by the Darkhold, and of course the Scarlet Witch. Waldron, who spoke with Den of Geek, shared why Nightmare was ultimately removed from the script. “There was different stuff. I think it’s been reported that once upon a time, there was some talk of Nightmare and stuff like that. But when I came on board, it was a Multiverse story. And so it was always about trying to figure out who that multiversal adversary was going to be," Waldron shared. Waldron joined the sequel back in 2020, hoping to work through what former director Scott Derrickson and writer Jade Barlett had already cooked up with the script. But due to the countless delays and setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he and Sam Raimi felt it was the right time to start from scratch.
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A demon that lords the Dream Dimension, Nightmare is one of Marvel's most dangerous characters, as he has the ability to bring somebody's astral form out of their physical body to torture them. While this would have fit the dream walking concept that ends up being presented in the film, the countless setbacks like Spider-Man: No Way Home switching release dates with Doctor Strange 2 caused the sequel to rework many story elements. As a result, there just wasn't enough room to fit such a character while already dealing with too many other multiverse storylines. But as the MCU continues to expand, there is definitely no ruling out Nightmare's appearance in the future.
The 29th MCU film received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising director Raimi's unique vision and the performances while others criticize the pacing and writing. Other than Cumberbatch in the lead role, the film also stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Benedict Wong as Wong, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, and Michael Stuhlbarg as Nicodemus West.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theatres.
Source: Den of Geek