The Multiverse is one of the biggest concepts that the MCU has ever tackled. Being set up first in Loki, it's scale is incomprehensible.
It also allows for Marvel to do things which weren't previously possible. The most recent example of this is seen in What If...?, with each episode presenting a new story that held completely different treasures than what audiences have come to know today.
Going even further, it allows for Marvel Studios and President Kevin Feige to do things completely outside of the box - things such as Alfred Molina's return as Doc Ock in Spider-Man: Far From Home along with nearly everything that is set to happen in Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Even Feige himself is blown away by everything that the Multiverse has allowed the studio to do.
Feige Speaks on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange Connection
In a conversation with Empire, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige commented on how surreal it was for Doctor Strange director Sam Raimi to be back in the fold after his work on the 2000s Spider-Man trilogy.
It wasn't just him either. According to Feige, while working on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, "Alfred Molina as Doc Ock in another room" was on the head executive's mind at the same time in the office down the hall:
“It's absolutely surreal to be working on a Doctor Strange movie with Sam Raimi in one part of the office, and then working on a Spider-Man movie with Jon Watts and Alfred Molina as Doc Ock in another room... That has been a mind-blowing part of the last 10 years of my life.”
Feige went on to mention how everything Marvel does is "based on a small group of people sitting around a table:"
“Everything we do at Marvel is based on a small group of people sitting around a table going, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if…?... the Multiverse was always a part of that because it’s such a big part of the story in the comics.”
The Strange Spider Web of the Multiverse
It is a notably strange coincidence that Feige would have ended up working with Sam Raimi at the same time all of Raimi's former villains were set to reappear.
Maybe it's no coincidence at all. There's always the possibility that Raimi was imperative to getting the likes of Afred Molina and most other rumored names to sign on for Spider-Man: No Way Home—something which would have led him to directing one of his favorite comic book characters in Doctor Strange. It's clearly a win-win for everyone involved.
As for the Multiverse and the many strange consequences that it can bring, this is surely not the last time a situation such as this will arise. There are already rumors of Fox characters returning.
The Multiverse has only been around for a few months and it's already gotten this crazy. It's hard to imagine what it might look like in a few years.
The next Marvel Studios project, Eternals, is set to hit theaters worldwide on November 5. Spider-Man: No Way Home will swing into cinemas on December 17, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will debut on May 6, 2022.
