The One Doctor Strange 2 Question We May Never Get An Answer To
The following article contains major spoilers for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."
"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" sports layers upon layers of mysteries and horrors. It features the titular Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) traveling between dimensions of the multiverse to try to protect America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) from the desperate, reality-bending machinations of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). The movie plays with the fabric of reality and dares to warp such concepts as personal identity and the importance of universal order as it explores themes of grief, justice, vengeance, and love. Sam Raimi's big return to making superhero films has definitely struck a chord with viewers; per Box Office Mojo, it's already made $507 million worldwide.
Naturally, when one creates a world-sprawling, universe-shaking movie like "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," fans are going to be left with some major questions. After all, with so many realities explored, even briefly, there are background details to discuss and new information to sort through. There's one particularly sticky question fans have about a small detail in a pivotal scene, and unfortunately for them, it's a question they might never get an answer to.
Writer Michael Waldron won't say who the empty Illuminati chair belongs to
One of the crucial scenes of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" involves Stephen facing the Illuminati, a council of the world's most powerful superheroes, while visiting Earth-838 in the multiverse. This cameo-studded lineup includes Captain Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Black Bolt (Anson Mount), Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch), Reed Richards (John Krasinski), and the iconic Professor Charles Xavier (Sir Patrick Stewart). Also, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is there.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" writer Michael Waldron was asked who the empty chair on the Illuminati's dais belongs to.
"That's also an unanswerable question, but we talked about that a lot, though. Maybe that was just a mistake. Maybe the set [decorator] guy had one too many chairs," Waldron said, with a laugh. When pressed on the subject by reporter Brian Davids, Waldron admitted that he and others who worked on the film know the answer to the question, but they're also leaving it open-ended for the time being.
It's possible that Waldron is holding on to that bit of information in the hope of Marvel Studios greenlighting a third "Doctor Strange" film, or that the Illuminati could make an appearance elsewhere in Phase Four and beyond. It's also important to remember that the Illuminati featured in this film is only in that universe — and that a completely new lineup could appear somewhere else in the multiverse, perhaps one day in Earth-616.