Every hero needs a love interest; Tony Stark has Pepper Potts; Steve Rogers has Peggy Carter; Stephen Strange has Christine Palmer, or at least, he did. Despite having no connection to Marvel Comics' Sorcerer Supreme, Rachel McAdams made her MCU debut in Doctor Strange as a surgeon colleague and former love interest of Benedict Cumberbatch's sorcerer.
After some time together, the couple separated but remained friends due to Strange's extreme ego and desperation to be in control. Many years later, during the Blip, Palmer met and married a man named Charlie, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness picking up on the day of their wedding, one which Stephen attended.
After a Multiverse-hopping adventure in which Strange had the chance to meet Variants of himself and Christine, Benedict Cumberbatch's hero finally came to understand why their relationship failed: because he "always has to be the one holding the knife."
The romantic relationship between Stephen and Christine may now be over, as Doctor Strange was just recently introduced to Charlize Theron's sorcerer Clea, his most famous love interest.
Now, a deleted scene revealed a taste of a little more of McAdams' surgeon with a flashback.
Doctor Strange 2's Cut Flashback Released
Movie Extras Videos shared the "A Great Team" deleted scene from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, featuring a flashback to Stephen Strange's medical career with Rachel McAdams' Christine Palmer.
The flashback returns to an interview between the two medical geniuses and WHIH News to discuss "The Strange Palmer Method."
Strange notably occupies complete control of the conversation, contributing to his Multiverse of Madness character arc, which centers around his need to be in control.
Stephen and Christine are both noticeably younger in the scene, which takes place sometime before 2016's Doctor Strange.
"A Great Team" can be watched below:
Where Did Doctor Strange 2's Flashback Fit?
There's no telling where exactly in the movie this interview flashback would have been placed, but one would assume it to come early in the film, around the time of Christine's wedding. Unless, of course, this clip comes from another corner of the Multiverse and the Strange present is either the Supreme, Defender, or Sinister Variants seen later in Multiverse of Madness.
With Strange clearly pushing for control of the interview and demonstrating his ego, as he refers to himself as the greatest surgeon alive, the scene is certainly consistent with the sorcerer's relationship with Palmer. After all, much of Multiverse of Madness revolved around how Strange's need to be "the one holding the knife" was the main obstacle in their romance.
Ultimately, it's tough to see what purpose this interview served in the film, outside further exploring the relationship between the two. 2016's Doctor Strange begins at the tail-end of Strange and Palmer's romance, so fans have never truly gotten the chance to see what their time together looked like - outside what was shown in What If...? Episode 4.
Who knows what the future holds for the love life of Stephen and Christine, but with McAdams' surgeon now married, Multiverse of Madness may be the end of their romance. Fans have just been introduced to Charlize Theron's Clea in the sequel's post-credits scene, and if the comics are any indication, the magical duo has a thriving romance to come.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits Disney+ on June 22.
