Marvel head Kevin Feige has helped connect the dots in the MCU, confirming the huge impact that the Disney Plus series Loki had on the events of Spider-Man 2 and Doctor Strange 2.
Feige opened up about this during Marvel’s coverage of the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness premiere in Los Angeles. He was asked why Doctor Strange is the character they decided would take us through the multiverse.
"There’s always a method to the madness even in the multiverse," he explained. "Fans know Loki and Sylvie did something at the end of that series that allowed all of this to be possible. He Who Remains 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."
The end of Loki introduces the character of He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), who had been living in the Citadel at the End of Time where he remained in charge of the TVA. He explains to Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) that he, and infinite versions of himself, had lived in the 31st Century when war broke out between them in a bid to conquer the multiverse.
He Who Remains had found Alioth to end the war and protect what he calls the Sacred Timeline. This is what the TVA had been trying to maintain throughout Loki, killing off variants who appeared to breach this. He explains that he is the only thing stopping the timelines and universes from branching off and causing chaos. But, Sylvie kills him.
The impact of this was already teased at the end of Loki when the timelines began branching off, before an imposing statue of Kang the Conqueror rose up in the TVA – you can read more about that twist and its consequences here. Now, we know that this led to other events in the MCU as well.
Feige has confirmed it allowed the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. In that movie, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) seeks out Dr Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) help after his secret identity is exposed. He asks him to create a spell that would allow everyone to forget he was Spider-Man. However, this goes wrong, breaking open the multiverse to allow various versions of himself, and previous villains he’d fought, to reach into our reality.
Heading into Doctor Strange 2, we learn this impact of the multiversal threats has only just begun. The film begins as Strange tracks down a multiversal traveler called America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) who is being chased through different universes by an unknown threat. This lands Strange in all sorts of trouble as well in the latest MCU movie – check out our Doctor Strange 2 ending explained where we break down all of these consequences.
Want more Marvel? Here’s our guide to the upcoming Marvel Phase 4 releases and how to watch the Marvel films in order.
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