Doctor Strange 2 Writer Discusses Why [SPOILERS] Were Killed in the Film

WARNING: This article contains spoilers about the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Read at your own risk.

One of the highlights of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the appearance of the Illuminati when Doctor Strange and America Chavez made their way to Earth-838. However, the group, which is consists of Mordo, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Reed Richards (John Krasinski), Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell), Black Bolt (Anson Mount), and Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch), only showed up for a short amount of time since they were immediately killed off by Wanda Maximoff. So why did they decide to do that?

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron explained their decision to introduce the Illuminati in the film and kill them off to which he admitted that it wasn't initially in the outline, but he added it to "find the madness in the multiverse."

"Yeah, that’s a blast. That’s probably my favorite sequence in the movie. The idea for that was not in my outline; I was writing the first draft and I guess I felt like, as I put it, the movie needed to get drunk It felt like we’re at the point where I need to find the madness in the multiverse here," he said. "I had no idea: Would I be able to use these characters? Would this even be possible? But I knew with Sam [Raimi] that if we did it this way, it would be amazing. And so I wrote it in."

Waldron mentioned Aliens as his inspiration for the sequence. Just like how that film showed the viciousness of the Xenomorphs by slaughtering the space Marines, Multiverse of Madness used the killing of the Illuminati as a way to show how powerful the Darkhold-possessed Wanda Maximoff can be.

He said, "I was watching Aliens a lot as I was writing. Because just tonally this movie is a thriller and a [feature-length] chase. I just love how Aliens goes to great lengths to tell you how badass the space Marines are — and then they just get slaughtered. Then you are really scared of the Xenomorphs for the rest of that movie, and that’s what I wanted to accomplish with Wanda. At the end of that Illuminati sequence. I hope you were truly terrified of the Scarlet Witch. It’s been awesome being in the theater hearing the cheers, then the gasps and the groans. I mean, you know, people were feeling something at the movies. That’s good!"

The killing of the Illuminati in the film was a huge shock factor for the audience starting with the death of Black Bolt and it gave us an overview of how brutal a Darkhold-possessed Scarlet Witch can be and the lengths that she will take in order to take down her enemy. It's a very scary sequence that really upped the stakes and, while it might be disappointing to see them die immediately, you can agree that they were able to set their objective of setting up how dangerous the Scarlet Witch is.

Also Read: Doctor Strange 2: Charlize Theron Breaks Silence on Her Surprise MCU Role

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now showing in theaters everywhere.