Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kicked off Marvel's new round of programming in Phase 4 with an exciting thrill ride that teased the vast extent of the Multiverse. Although the movie brought a great deal of exciting action that pushed the MCU closer toward its newly announced Avengers: Secret Wars, there were a number of scrapped scenes that have come into the light since its release.
One of these included a new opening scene for the movie with Wanda Maximoff decapitating Earth-616's Baron Mordo; there was also another version of Doctor Strange 2's second post-credits scene, showing Bruce Campbell's Pizza Poppa vowing revenge on Strange for his punching spell. But on top of that, Doctor Strange himself had a key moment removed that would have given his story even more depth.
Doctor Strange 2 was originally meant to include a moment looking back at Stephen and his sister, Donna, which was discussed with Sinister Strange during his battle with Earth 616's master magician. Following the movie's release, fans now have a look at the two young starring characters from that very scene.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Official Art Shows Tragic Childhood Scene
Concept artist Darrell Warner took to Instagram to share a few early pieces of concept art from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The drawings include a young Stephen Strange, still played by Benedict Cumberbatch, in the middle of the night and donning a beanie and a long scarf.
This comes from the scrapped flashback moment with Strange and his sister, Donna, where she fell through a patch of ice on a lake and passed away from hypothermia.
The pictures also included a look at young Donna, who was never cast for the movie, as she also wears warm winter clothing under the moonlight.
While the first three images are all in color, Warner also included a barebones sketch of Stephen with a huge group of trees behind him under the moon.
In his caption, Warner noted how this sequence was developed during the pre-COVID production schedule, which also came while Marvel was looking for a new director after Scott Derrickson's departure. According to him, this sequence was subsequently removed when Sam Raimi took over as the movie's director:
“More Into the Multiverse Madness……There’s a sequence in the released film where one version of Strange, whilst in conversation with himself as another talks of them loosing their Sister……Throwing it back here to pre Covid with one of my early tasks in getting to grips with those children of that past……We were slightly rudderless at the time but still working with the original Scott Derrickson script and awaiting news of a new Director | Subsequently this whole sequence of the Strange kids on the frozen lake was dropped when Sam Raimi took up the tiller…….Fun to do though and this is a rarity for those Doctor Strange fanatics out there……Let’s just see what the hopeless Instagram makes of this post…….Not that I want to go off on a tangent here but there’s so much noise the whole Instagram thing is joyless these days”
Stephen and Donna Strange
"We had a sister...Donna. She died when we were kids."
The moment with Donna and Stephen Strange is one that's been discussed often throughout the hero's entire tenure in the MCU. There was originally a scene planned for the first Doctor Strange movie that actually showed this moment happening and inspiring Stephen to become a doctor in the first place, although that scene became canon with its mention in Doctor Strange 2.
It's clear that this scene has come incredibly close to actually being a part of the MCU thanks to serious discussions during production for both movies. However, especially with this second movie having such a short runtime and so much material to pack into the plot, director Sam Raimi seemed to think it would slow everything down just a little too much in the Multiversal madness.
Whether fans see this moment realized in a third Doctor Strange movie is unknown, particularly with all roads leading to much bigger things at the end of Phase 6 with Avengers: Secret Wars.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now streaming on Disney+ and is available for home purchase as well.
