The Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Line That Means More Than You Think

Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has officially embarked on his latest adventure with the release of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." The film sees Strange on a quest to protect America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) from a newly evil Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). As the film unfolds, Wanda reveals that she wants America because of the young girl's ability to travel the Multiverse, a power that will ultimately allow Wanda to go to a universe where her magically fabricated children from "WandaVision" are real. This leads to a battle across various realities as Strange and America go on the run to get away from Wanda and find any means necessary to do battle against her considerable power as the Scarlet Witch.

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is chock-full of callbacks and references. These include references to previous Marvel movies as well as callbacks to some of Sam Raimi's most famous films. However, there is one specific line uttered by a character in the film that is not only hopeful and supportive of Strange's mission within the context of the movie but also a major reference to a non-MCU Marvel movie. Let's dive in and take a closer look at the line and what it means for Marvel fans.

When Stephen Strange meets the Illuminati in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," most of its members approach him with a sense of wariness and hostility due to the fact that their Strange caused an incursion that destroyed an entire reality. However, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) ultimately chooses to believe that Strange will not turn out like his Illuminati counterpart, offering him a chance to escape as Wanda storms the compound on her mission to find America Chavez.

Before going off to face Wanda himself, Xavier justifies his faith in Strange by saying, "Just because someone stumbles and loses their path doesn't mean they're lost forever." As many fans noticed, this is an iconic Xavier line that he utters to his younger self (James McAvoy) in "X-Men: Days of Future Past." The 2014 film is the convergence of the original "X-Men" trilogy with the rebooted prequel series kicked off by 2011's "X-Men: First Class."

The parallels between the context surrounding the line in "Days of Future Past" and "Multiverse of Madness" are notable. In the first instance, Xavier uses the line to reassure his younger self that humanity's hatred of mutants can be quelled if the X-Men show the world "a better path." However, in "Multiverse of Madness," the line is specifically used to remind the Earth-616 Strange (the main MCU Strange) that he is not necessarily destined to follow the same dark path as his Earth-838 counterpart.