New MCU Toy Leak Reveals Another Doctor Strange Variant

Just as a rather sinister-looking variant of Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) indicated in a recent trailer, things in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" are about to "get out of hand" (via YouTube). With the release of the upcoming 28th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe quickly approaching, Marvel and Disney's promotional machine is just about to kick into high gear. 

Of course, while the voice of Patrick Stewart (or, as the actor later jokingly suggested, an extremely convincing impersonator) and an especially revealing poster have certainly given Marvel fans enough to salivate over for now, there are quite a few other interesting places to find details related to the film. Back in December, images of toys released by Entertainment Earth revealed the first looks at a number of characters new to the MCU.

The latest clues for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" come courtesy of a similar type of merchandise. If you're a fan of Funko Pops or Doctor Strange, you're definitely going to want to listen up.

Fans of the MCU can now enjoy an even closer look at the various characters at the center of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" with the recent publication of images from the official collection of Funko Pops tied to the film's release. While you can't yet purchase any of the officially branded toys, images posted to Marvel.com reveal a variety of new characters.

The photos released by Marvel display four different versions of Doctor Strange together with a slew of other heroes and villains, including: Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), Wanda Maximoff (aka Scarlet Witch) (Elizabeth Olsen), Wong (Benedict Wong), Master Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), Rintrah (Adam Hugill), and an as-of-yet unseen character named Sara. Upon the release of the images, a number of Marvel fans took to Twitter to speculate that this character could be Baroness Sara Mordo, the mother of Karl Mordo. Though we're still not exactly sure who this character is, such an idea doesn't seem like an especially large leap given the somewhat similarly styled robes that both characters wear in these toys. Either way, the appearance of these robes almost certainly indicate that the character is a user of the mystic arts.

Additionally, there are a total of three variants included in the four different versions of Doctor Strange shown in the new Funko Pop collection. The man on the far left of the group picture looks like the Doctor Strange that we're all used to in the MCU, while his astral form appears in between two new variants on the right. Directly to the right of the regular Doctor Strange is a new character called "Defender Strange." We've seen this variant in both previous trailers and a few other toys (via Target).

However, there remains one more variant of Doctor Strange included this collection.

Much of the additional speculation surrounding these toys has been geared towards variant of Doctor Strange on the far right, who is labeled "Supreme Strange." This toy appears to resemble the variant of Doctor Strange immortalized as a statue in the second trailer for the upcoming film. Of course, if you've watched the Disney+ Marvel series "What If...?," this name should sound somewhat familiar to you.

"What If...?" Season 1, Episode 4 ("What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands") features a parallel timeline in which a variant of Doctor Strange is forced to repeatedly witness the death of Dr. Christine Palmer, his longtime girlfriend. Though Strange tries to save her countless times, he is eventually forced to confront the fact that Christine's death is an "absolute point" in time. In order to get around this inconvenient fact, Strange resorts to using cruel forms of dark magic, setting up a series of events which eventually culminate in the destruction of his entire universe. 

Despite the character's emotional (and physical) instability, this variant of Doctor Strange is also noted for the extreme lengths of his power (hence the "Supreme" name). While it's not crystal clear that the same character from "What If...?" is also appearing in the upcoming film, it seems quite likely. Interestingly, Supreme Strange's character description and nickname sound an awful lot like the so-called "Superior Iron Man" who some MCU fans expect to meet soon. While we can't confirm or deny anything in regards to Superior Iron Man yet, it certainly seems like a safe bet that Supreme Strange will show up at some point.

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is set to premiere in theaters on May 6 (via IMDb).