Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Producer Confirms Our Worst Fear About Doctor Strange's Love Life

2016 saw the arrival of the Marvel Comics mainstay Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe via his own self-titled movie. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the surgeon-turned-sorcerer, "Doctor Strange" gave audiences the bare bones of the character by telling a fairly straightforward, albeit mystical, origin story. If nothing else, the film served as a fine start to a budding franchise à la "Iron Man" and "Captain America: The First Avenger." However, from this point on, Strange would go from a leading man to a supporting player in other MCU installments, ranging from "Thor: Ragnarok" to "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

While there's no denying Doctor Strange's importance in the likes of "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame," he's long overdue for a solo adventure at the movies. Thankfully, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" will end this draught in grand fashion. The May 2022 feature will take the former Sorcerer Supreme on a jaunt across time and space, encountering alternate versions of himself, one-eyed tentacle monsters, and more. Not to mention, the sequel is supposedly jam-packed with cameos from different Marvel universes, leaving us to wonder if Strange will even get some time in the spotlight for himself.

Even if Doctor Strange somehow manages to take center stage in his own movie, according to a producer on "Multiverse of Madness," don't count on seeing much from his romantic life.

A focal point of the first "Doctor Strange" movie — aside from his pursuit of the Mystic Arts — is his relationship with fellow medical practitioner Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). The two had dated some time ago, but his ego got in the way, so she elected to break things off. They remained friends until Strange's car accident that ruined his famously steady hands, which caused him to spiral and further push her away. Roughly a year later, Strange and Christine mended their friendship, and she will appear in "Multiverse of Madness," but not as a love interest.

"He would've loved to stay with Christine at the end of that movie ["Doctor Strange"], but he did the hard thing. He said, 'No. I'm going to be a Super Hero and defend our reality. I have to move on," said "Multiverse of Madness" producer Richie Palmer in the Spring 2022 issue of D23 Magazine (via The Direct), confirming that they're not back together. He notes that the upcoming film will focus on the decisions Strange has made as of late and may even explore the regret he feels over how things ended between him and Christine.

Knowing that she and Doctor Strange haven't gotten back together, it'll be interesting to see how Christine factors into "Multiverse of Madness." Will she somehow end up traversing the multiverse with her ex, either by accident or on purpose? Or perhaps Strange Supreme (Cumberbatch) from the "What If...?" Disney+ series will attempt to win her over following the death of the Christine from his timeline? Only time will tell.