Michael Waldron holds the keys to two of the most important projects in the MCU's future as a head writer. Last year, he worked with Tom Hiddleston on Marvel's third Disney+ series Loki before developing the story behind the recently-released Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, both of which brought the Multiverse into the spotlight for Marvel Studios.
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The Doctor Strange sequel introduced MCU fans to the concept of dream-walking as the master magician learned about both the Darkhold and Wanda Maximoff's time diving into its pages. This allowed Wanda to possess another version of herself in order to be with her twin sons while Doctor Strange used it to possess his own corpse and stop Wanda, thus leading to a mystical third eye appearing on his forehead.
This concept added to the horror movie vibes that were prevalent through Doctor Strange 2, specifically as the Scarlet Witch unleashed her full power and showed the world how dangerous she truly was. Additionally, it got fans thinking about whether a couple of characters from Waldron's first MCU project could make this trick happen if they so desired.
Doctor Strange 2 Writer on Loki Dream-Walking Idea
In a chat with ComingSoon, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron addressed the concept of dream-walking within the Loki Disney+ series.
Interviewer Julia Delbel brought up the idea of Loki and Sylvie potentially being able to dream-walk into each other's bodies due to them being Variants of one another. When asked if this could potentially happen in Season 2 of Loki, Waldron loved the idea, hinting that he may pitch it himself to Marvel Studios:
Delbel: "We learned more about the Darkhold and the Book of Vishanti in Multiverse of Madness, but we also learned something pretty big, which is the lore of dreams in the MCU, which is that they’re windows to other realities and other variants of one’s self. I noticed in another project you work on, which was Loki, there was a reference to something called the Nightmare Department. So was this anything to do with that? Maybe since those two Loki and Sylvie, those leads are variants of each other, we could maybe see this pop up in season two of that show? Could they dream about each other because they’re variants of each other, is that how that works?"
Waldron: "Jeez, Loki dream walking into Sylvie’s body? That’s what you’re pitching … I gotta hang up and make a call. that’s a great idea."
Waldron spoke about dream-walking being "such a challenging spell," noting how Wanda and Strange may be "the only people who could do that spell." However, he did admit that Loki and Sylvie are two powerful magicians in their own right, making the idea of them performing that spell intriguing:
"That’s really interesting, you know … dream walking is such a challenging spell. If anybody could do it, I would’ve said Wanda and Strange are probably the only people who could do that spell, but then again, Loki [is] a very powerful magic wielder himself, and Sylvie [is] as well. So who knows? I don’t know. That’s a pretty interesting idea."
Waldron also spoke with Variety about potential connections between Loki and Doctor Strange 2. While he would have loved "to write dialogue for Tom (Hiddleston) or Owen (Wilson) or Sophia (Di Martino)," he admitted that throwing them into a story that "was already handling a lot:"
"If it had been necessary, I think we would have. But as it was, it felt, even to me, like we were just reaching. Nothing would have made me happier than to get to write dialogue for Tom or Owen or Sophia. But it felt like this was a story happening separate of that TVA purview. And that might have complicated things. You know, this movie was already handling a lot, and that might have just confused things even further. So I think we were okay without it."
Too Much in Doctor Strange 2 for Loki Material
While the idea of two Loki Variants dream-walking into one another is certainly an intriguing theory, Waldron admitted that Doctor Strange 2 already had so much going for it between Strange, Wanda, the Multiverse, and the Illuminati.
Looking at how powerful Loki and Sylvie both are, seeing them working to learn that kind of magic could be something to explore as Loki continues forward through the madness at the TVA in future seasons. This could also give more clarity to whether the two are truly the same being, seeing as they'd be able to perform the spell and go into each other's brains if that was the case.
Even with that exciting idea, Waldron wanted to make sure that this story remained focused on the task at hand - showing Wanda's villainous turn to find her children as Strange traversed the Multiverse to keep her from endangering everybody. The Time Variance Authority may cross over into the movies someday, but for now, the two universes remain separate as they tackle their own challenges.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters. Season 1 of Loki is now streaming on Disney+, and Season 2 begins filming on June 6.
