Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness brought with it a new horror facet the MCU had not seen before, thanks largely to Sam Raimi. However, it's now known that long-serving Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige also had a hand in creating the carnage unleashed by the Scarlet Witch's anger.
The Doctor Strange sequel features what is arguably Marvel Studios' most violent and horrific deaths so far, despite the studio keeping its PG-13 label intact, with Deadpool 3 being planned as the MCU's sole R-rated representative. Nonetheless, Feige and Raimi did not pull any punches, and neither did Wanda Maximoff, in a film with scary themes that saw it earn $951.5 million worldwide before heading over to Disney Plus last month.
In a new exclusive with Before & Afters, Industrial Light & Magic's visual effects supervisor Julian Foddy broke down what it took to make Wanda face off against the Illuminati and how some scenes came to be. Foddy details they intended to use the British Museum atrium initially, though with so much CGI needed it would have shown up anyway. Plus, he also notes that it was Feige who passed down the idea of having John Krasinski's Mr. Fantastic get shredded like “Play-doh through a garlic press."
Reed Richard's death was particularly challenging, considering it was the first time the MCU had to deal with the Fantastic Four's leader complex physics. Giving the scene the right look was key so that it would look like “organic material and getting the right amount of flex and balance to the strings,” instead of something else. The full interview goes quite in-depth on the Scarlet Witch's absolute destruction of the Illuminati, including the fact that Krasinski and Anson Mount's costumes were completely digital rather than actual outfits.
The same goes for Lashana Lynch's Captain Marvel variant, who benefitted greatly from the prior VFX work created for Brie Larson's appearances, with only Hayley Atwell's Captain Carter relying more on physical stunts. Suffice to say, Doctor Strange 2 is filled with chilling moments, especially when Wanda snaps Professor X's neck after murdering the aforementioned superheroes.
While some fans found the usage of all these cameos hurt Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, that was no obstacle for the film to become yet another Marvel Studios hit. However, Thor: Love and Thunder seems ready to beat it in almost every possible way.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is available on Disney Plus.
Source: Before & Afters