Hey, It Turns Out Doctor Strange Actually WAS Supposed To Appear In ‘WandaVision’

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If you followed BroBible‘s coverage of WandaVision, then you’ll likely recall that your boy Ital was all-in on the “Doctor Strange will show up in the series” theory as soon as the first trailer dropped. Hell, I was essentially captain of the ship. These are just a handful of the many articles I wrote on the subject (not to mention the further hours of podcasting):

Is ‘WandaVision’ Building Towards A Doctor Strange Episode?

The Likelihood Of A Doctor Strange Appearance In ‘WandaVision’ Is Growing

There’s Only One ‘WandaVision’ Question That Matters – Where The Hell Is Doctor Strange?

The basis for my argument was that given the nature of Wanda’s reality-bending powers, and how those powers seemed to be running amok, there was no character in the MCU more suited to deal with that than Doctor Strange.

Obviously, as we now know, Strange ultimately never appeared in WandaVision, leaving many MCU fans like myself disappointed in the glaring lack of the Sorcerer Supreme. That’s not to say that our theories were entirely wrong, though, as Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently confirmed that the original plan was to have Strange appear in the series.

“Some people might say, ‘Oh, it would’ve been so cool to see Dr. Strange,’” Kevin Feige told Rolling Stone. “But it would have taken away from Wanda, which is what we didn’t want to do. We didn’t want the end of the show to be commoditized to go to the next movie — here’s the white guy, ‘Let me show you how power works.’”

That meant the Dr. Strange movie, too, had to be rewritten. In the end, Feige says, Marvel’s process is “a wonderful combination of very dedicated coordination, and chaos. Chaos magic.” At one point, back when Dr. Strange was supposed to be part of the story, the in-universe commercials were going to be messages from Strange to Wanda, and there was also talk of having Cumberbatch appear in one of the ads, head writer Jac Schaeffer says.

Look, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an entertainment writer who respects The Gawd Kevin Feige more than me, but the omission of Strange created a glaring plot hole that simply must be addressed, and should’ve been in WandaVision. Doctor Strange’s job — his whole ass destiny — is to marshall the reality of Earth, making sure alternate timelines and dimensions don’t cause any sort of multiversal chaos. And what did Wanda end up doing? Oh, you know, exactly that. And not only did Wanda do the very thing Strange is there to protect against, but she did so in the suburbs of New Jersey, right under the nose of Stranger’s Blecker Street bachelor pad.

Because Kevin Feige is literally one of the great Hollywood producers of all-time, I’m confident Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will address the Sorcerer Supreme’s absence in WandaVision, but until then, I’m going to continue to crack “You had one job, Doc!” jokes.

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