Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stunned fans straight away by revealing that the Scarlet Witch will be the film’s principal adversary. This resulted in some really fantastic battle sequences between the MCU’s two most powerful magic-wielders, but there’s been a lot of talk about more of it appearing in deleted scenes.
The majority of that attention has been focused on the sequel’s abandoned opening scene, in which Wanda Maximoff would have killed Earth-616’s Baron Mordo. She would have decapitated him and gave Strange the severed head when they first met at the farm, leaving little mistake about who Strange would face during Doctor Strange 2.
Over the last several months, concept art has also hinted more deleted sequences, including a flashback to Strange losing his sister at the lake and a tease showing the wicked Nightmare in action. Fans can now see more deleted Scarlet Witch action, which would have pitted her against Strange once again early in the Multiversal sequel.
Doctor Strange 2’s Deleted Scarlet Witch Battle Illustrator David Allcock released a collection of storyboard drawings including a previously uncovered deleted sequence from Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness through Twitter user @itsjustanx. This scenario would have pitted Doctor Strange against the Scarlet Witch as Strange and America Chavez jumped across the Multiverse after leaving Kamar-Taj.
Strange uses his magic to free Chavez from the Scarlet Witch’s grasp while Chavez opens one of her star portals.
The scene when Chavez falls through with the blue light from her portal around her in-frame seems very similar to what appeared in the final cut of the film.
It would have had the Scarlet Witch really pursue Strange and Chavez into the star gate, employing images similar to those seen before when the villain was pushing through mirrors.
Along with Wanda pursuing the heroic team, they would have encountered other demons while traversing the Multiverse. There was even a chance they’d run across one of the more sinister Strange Variants, akin to how Earth-616’s good doctor confronted Sinister Strange at the conclusion of the narrative.
As the Scarlet Witch pursued Strange and Chavez, she would release more of her actual power, which she had garnered while delving into the pages of the Darkhold.
In her chase, the villain would have seized Chavez by the wrist, however it’s uncertain whether the action would have progressed as it did in the final edit of Doctor Strange 2.
Marvel Parallels Avoided With Deleted Scene?
With Doctor Strange 2 clocking in at little over two hours, it’s hardly unexpected that so many deleted scenes and concept art have been published now that the film has come and gone. This sequence would have certainly added a couple of minutes to the running length, although it’s unclear whether it would have come with the universe-jumping scene or taken its place entirely.
Furthermore, given Marvel’s vast history, this deleted battle has some resemblance to another sequence seen by fans in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, which starred Thor, Loki, and Hela. This three got into a similar brawl when Loki summoned the Bifrost to transport him and Thor to Asgard, prompting Hela to leap in and fling them over the rainbow bridge into the uncharted realms of space.
In the end, it looks that this confrontation between Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch was never even pre-visualized, since this is the first time fans have seen this scene shown in public. While it would have undoubtedly provided another fantastic combat scene to the already packed film, leaving it out maintained some of the emphasis on Strange and America as they began their first journey across the Multiverse.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now available to watch on Disney+.
