How Does Loki Connect To Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness?

The concept of the multiverse has become a focal point of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Phase Four, with a few recent projects showing off how it can generate fun and compelling stories and moments. The Disney+ series "Loki" goes especially deep into multiverse territory as the titular villain turned hero — portrayed by Tom Hiddleston — and his multiverse variant, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), wreck the multiverse completely. The ramifications of their recklessness are touched on in other MCU installments, such as "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."

In fact, according to Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, "Loki" directly leads to the events of "Multiverse of Madness." He said at the "Multiverse of Madness" premiere, "Loki and Sylvie did something at the end of ['Loki'] that sort of allowed all of this to be possible. He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) is gone, and that allowed a spell to go wrong in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home,' which leads to the entire multiverse going quite mad in this film." Thus, Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) botched "No Way Home" spell and subsequent timeline-hopping adventure only come to pass because of the events of "Loki" (via Marvel.com).

Delving even deeper, producer Richie Palmer further explained how the end of "Loki" Season 1 has impacted the wider MCU multiverse — but has it really?

Though it may sound that way based on Kevin Feige's words, the events of "Loki" Season 1 don't only influence "Spider-Man: No Way Home," and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." "It was the activation of the multiverse, or maybe the reactivation of the multiverse at the end of 'Loki' that really led to the possibilities that you see in 'What If...?', 'Spider-Man: No Way Home,' and 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,'" Richie Palmer said, highlighting that the timeline-hopping shenanigans of "What If...?" are also due to the "Loki" Season 1 finale.

At the same time, even though the multiverse is supposedly in disarray, many of the latest MCU titles haven't done a whole lot with the concept. On the movie front, the only film to touch on it since "Multiverse of Madness" released is "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." As for Disney+ offerings, only "Loki" and "What If...?" have devoted any time to it. It's pretty much common knowledge at this point that "Deadpool 3" will toy with the multiverse idea, as will "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" and "Avengers: Secret Wars," but otherwise, the Multiverse Saga is looking a tad light on multiverse exploration.

Even though we haven't seen too much yet, it stands to reason MCU fans have plenty more multiverse stories to look forward to as Loki attempts to rectify the huge mistake he and Sylvie make in the "Loki" Season 1 finale.