Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness served as a divisive film among Marvel Cinematic Universe fans, much of it coming down to problems with the film’s story. Yet Xochitl Gomez defends the sequel’s writer Michael Waldron, claiming that the script went through nearly three dozen rewrites.

Michael Waldron has become something of a punching bag in Marvel fandom in recent years. While Loki was well-liked, many fans point to the awkward romance between the God of Mischief and Sylvie as turning them off the show. With Waldron recently landing the job of penning the finale to the Multiverse Saga in Avengers: Secret Wars, fans have continued to voice their dislike of Waldron’s work on projects such as the Doctor Strange sequel.

Much like how America Chavez saved the titular Stephen Strange in the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Xochitl Gomez has come back to the defend its writer. In a recent TikTok comment, Gomez claimed that Michael Waldron is an excellent writer, but that the film went through 33 rewrites that weren’t up to him.

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Anyone familiar with the development of the Doctor Strange sequel knows that messy doesn’t even begin to describe it. The first news of the film came at the end of 2018 when Scott Derrickson, who directed the first film, signed on to return for the sequel. Following the official announcement of Doctor Strange 2, it was revealed that Wandavision would directly lead into the film with Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. At this time, the film was also meant to release before Spider-Man: No Way Home and would have laid the groundwork for the Multiverse, with concept art and interviews revealing that America Chavez was also meant to appear. Jade Halley Bartlett was brought onto the project to write in late 2019. During this time, Doctor Strange 2 was incredibly different, with Nightmare being the main villain.

This all changed following Scott Derrickson’s departure from Doctor Strange 2 in January of 2020, only a few months before the film began production, due to creative differences between him and Marvel. Sam Raimi was quickly brought on as a director for Derrickson’s original script, with Michael Waldron also signing on in February of that year to make some undisclosed changes. However, following the film’s delay due to the pandemic, Raimi took the opportunity to entirely rewrite it as his own with a deadline of filming in November 2020.

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Such a tight deadline for a script is a miraculous turn around, especially during unprecedented times. However, during the development of the Doctor Strange 2 script, a number of massive story changes took place. This included scrapping a Benedict Cumberbatch cameo at the end of Wandavision and the shift of placing Doctor Strange 2 after No Way Home. These massive shifts in production likely led to the film’s lackluster quality and the massive amount of rewrites Xochitl Gomez is referring to. While this hectic production surely affected the film’s writing, many fans may still be unsure of Waldron’s abilities due to his past work. However, only time will tell if Marvel made the right choice in bringing him on for Secret Wars.

The cast and storyline of the Doctor Strange sequel

Directed by Sam Raimi from a script written by Michael Waldron, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams.

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The official synopsis for the Doctor Strange sequel reads as follows: “The MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now available to own on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD. It’s also streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.

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