The heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe don’t solely exist for the purpose of saving the universe and ensuring the safety of mankind.
On rare occasions, we see them live their personal lives with their own family, and others with their own potential love interests.
Doctor Stephen Strange had his own love story going on while he was maintaining his reputation as one of the world’s top surgeons.
That is until he damaged his hands during a car accident that led him to a much greater purpose of becoming the Sorcerer Supreme.
Despite initially having a supportive girlfriend, Doctor Strange’s ego hindered him from flourishing in this relationship.
Now, the question is, who does Doctor Strange end up with, really, in the MCU?
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Doctor Strange and Christine Palmer's Relationship Explained
Similar to how great of an ego Tony Stark had at the beginning of his story in Iron Man, Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) felt quite superior compared to the other doctors he worked with in the Metro-General Hospital.
But behind that inflated ego, we are introduced to Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), Strange’s girlfriend and colleague who worked in the Emergency Room in the first Doctor Strange film.
Their relationship was subtly implied given their intimate exchanges in the middle of work, but it was most evident when Strange had grown obsessed with trying to fix his hands.
When Christine suggested that Strange should stop and accept his situation, that there are other things that could give his life meaning.
Then and there, Strange snapped at her, “Like what, you?” And instead of apologizing as Christine told him to do, Strange insisted, “This is the part where you leave.”
It came to light how much their relationship lacked affection towards each other, given Strange’s egotistic side, “We are not friends, Christine, we were barely lovers.”
To that, Christine walked out on him, leaving her house keys by the door.
But even though their departure, she was still there to help him when he returned from his trip to Kamar-Taj, and in attempting to rescue the Ancient One.
Fast forward to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, after Christine got married to someone else and Strange was there as a guest, he took the opportunity to express his regret for losing her, “I wish I’d been different. I never stopped caring about us. But I had to make sacrifices to protect you. I’m sorry.”
As for Christine’s side, however, she admitted, “It was never going to work out between us. Because, Stephen, you have to be the one holding the knife. And I always respected you for it, but I couldn’t love you for it.”
Evidently, she was willing to support Strange even after their break-up, especially since her husband was a huge fan of his heroic work, too.
To Strange, however, he was craving for the past to 'fix' things between them. Unfortunately, if he had taken the chance to manipulate the timeline, he'd be aware of what could destroy the Multiverse, as seen in the result of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
But as they went their separate ways once more, with Christine starting her married life and Strange protecting the multiverse, he meets Christine in an alternate universe.
This Christine, he worked together with for a longer screentime in the sequel, and instead of letting her go as he did with his Christine, he said, “I love you. I love you in every universe. It’s not that I don’t want to care for someone or have someone care for me. It’s just… I get scared.”
As heartbreaking as it was to realize his feelings for her too late, this isn't the end of his love story.
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Doctor Strange 3 Will Set the Stage For His Wife in the MCU
In the post-credit scene of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a woman in strange clothing named Clea (Charlize Theron) appears out of nowhere to confront Strange, “You caused an incursion. And we’re going to fix it.”
The woman opened up the Multiverse portal, waiting on Strange, which he was quick to take on.
That post-stringer was Clea’s official debut in the MCU, and while plans on Doctor Strange 3 have yet to be confirmed, here’s a little overview of who exactly we’re looking at here.
Clea is canonically Doctor Strange’s wife in the comics, which is set to happen once Dormammu gets defeated and ascends to the throne of the Dark Dimension.
As for who Clea is, she’s a powerful sorceress and daughter of Dormammu’s sister, which pretty much explains how she can connect to other-dimensional beings and why her magical abilities involve manipulating different forces of magic at her fingertips.
As of writing, there are no concrete blueprints yet on making Doctor Strange 3 come to fruition, given that the threequel is also speculated to come out after Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Needless to say, with Marvel continuing to build their Multiverse timeline, it would be a waste not to bring back Clea and Strange to make their on-screen romance happen on the big screens.
Otherwise, we’d be left with Strange trying to move on after Christine got married.
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