Written By Kieran Bugg
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness originally didn’t kill John Krasinski’s Reed Richards. Writer Michael Waldron revealed this in a new interview.
At this point pretty much everyone has seen the new Doctor Strange movie. The long-awaited sequel packed several exciting cameos. In addition, the film debuted the Illuminati.
Without a doubt, fans talked about them the most. Indeed, they probably rewatched those parts numerous times.
Two of Marvel Comics’ most iconic characters finally appeared. Although Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Richards (John Krasinski) were variants, they fulfilled the audience’s wishes, if only briefly.
John Krasinski Originally Survived Doctor Strange 2
Image: Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios kept John Krasinski a secret until the movie’s release. Krasinski had been the favorite choice to play the character in the MCU since the rights reverted back to Disney. However, the Illuminati’s role in the Doctor Strange sequel was only a small one.
Each member of the group (apart from Baron Mordo) met a gruesome demise at the hands of the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). In particular, the Scarlet Witch violently shredded Richards alive into blue silly string. Waldron revealed that he planned for Mister Fantastic to survive the Scarlet Witch’s terrifying rampage. In addition, he even hoped to have the character appear in one of the movie’s post-credit scenes.
Sadly, it didn’t make the final cut of the script.
Waldron revealed:
In my very first draft, I wrote a tag just for the hell of it, of the events of the movie being recorded and reviewed by somebody in the Baxter Building, and a stretchy hand coming into frame to run it back. Reed is probably my favorite Marvel comics characters so I was always gunning to get him in here somewhere.
John Krasinski Originally Survived Doctor Strange 2
Image: Marvel Studios
The Baxter Foundation appeared in the movie but we didn’t get to see the actual Baxter Building.
It sounds like we almost did, though.
The post-credit scene instead introduced Charlize Theron’s Clea to the MCU. Furthermore, there was also second more comedic scene which showed Strange’s spell on Bruce Campell’s Pizza Poppa finally wearing off.
If this scene made it into the movie, it would’ve been intended to tease the upcoming Fantastic Four MCU reboot.
There’s a strong chance that we’ll hear more Fantastic Four-related news next week at D23.