Marvel fans were gently reminded about Doctor Strange’s origin story in last year’s What If…?. One of its many installments featured a story that saw Benedict Cumberbatch’s sorcerer trying to undo the death of the love of his life: Rachel McAdams’ Christine Palmer. The story doesn’t have a happy ending, but then again, neither do their romantic entanglements in the MCU.
Since the events of Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch’s titular character left behind his desires for Christine to focus on being the protector of the universe. Needless to say, he’s been quite busy.
In Thor: Ragnarok, he helped Thor reunite with his brother Loki, Avengers: Infinity War saw him set up the Endgame win for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and Spider-Man: No Way Home showed him saving his reality from his good-intentioned mistake.
Thanks to all of that, there hasn’t really been much time for a lover. Though, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought about Christine Palmer.
Producer Confirms Strange’s Broken Heart
In the Spring 2022 issue of Disney’s D23 Magazine obtained by The Direct, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness producer Richie Palmer confirmed how Stephen Strange has not forgotten about Rachel McAdams’ Christine Palmer.
First, he started out by confirming both the good doctor and Wong are “still the chief protectors of our reality… especially when it comes to any Multiversal or mystic threats.”
As for Strange’s former flame, the producer confirmed that “they are not back together” and that this upcoming film will “[show] him dealing with the decisions he’s made:”
“They are not back together, unfortunately... as we saw at the end of Doctor Strange, he chose to stay in the Sanctum, meaning he cant entertain his selfish desires. He would've loved to stay with Christine at the end of that movie, but he did the hard thing. He said, 'No. I'm going to be a Super Hero and defend our reality. I have to move on. Our movie shows him dealing with the decisions he's made. He might regret how things ended with Christine; he still carries a torch for her.”
Strange Doesn’t Have Time for Love
It was fairly easy to forget how Benedict Cumberbatch’s hero once had a significant love interest in his life. In fact, the What If…? episode almost seemed strange with the amount of weight the plot put on that particular aspect of his origin.
However, even from the first trailer for Multiverse of Madness, it was clear that the story was going to bring back those regrets for Strange to sort through his next adventure. Rachel McAdam’s Christine can be seen going down the wedding aisle—and it’s not for her former flame.
The twist to all of this is how that same actress can be seen with both the sorcerer and Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez in an unknown universe. What’s she doing there? And is it the same one from Doctor Strange, or, given the Multiversal aspects of the film, is this an entirely new Variant?
Fans will have to wait to find out when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters on May 6, 2022.
