A huge staple of the MCU experience is always the post-credits scenes that tease fans about what’s to come next. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, opening in theaters in less than a week, will probably prove no exception to this rule, but what can we expect from the closing moments of Benedict Cumberbatch’s second solo outing?
The Doctor Strange sequel is being marketed as one of the most ambitious Marvel Studios undertakings to date, one that’ll completely break down the barriers of alternate realities and hopefully make it open season for any number of old or new characters from across the Marvel universe to join the MCU ensemble.
Barring all the surprises the movie will obviously have in store for us come May 6, Marvel fans must be feeling impatient to know what awaits them when the credits have rolled on The Multiverse of Madness. The producers have yet to confirm if the Sam Raimi-directed sequel will include a post-credits scene at all, especially after Spider-Man: No Way Home twisted the formula late last year by incorporating a teaser trailer instead of the usual subtle tease about the overarching narrative of Phase 4 and beyond.
The Multiverse of Madness might opt to do the same thing now that Marvel isn’t necessarily building toward a definitive story arc, as with Thanos and the Infinity Saga back in the early days. Even Black Widow or The Eternals, for that matter, deviated from the conventional MCU post-credits blueprint, so it’s entirely possible for Doctor Strange 2 to come up with something novel as well.
But let’s say that just like the rest of the 25 movies in the MCU, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will indeed end up including a post-credits tease for fans. In that case, what can we expect going in?
What will be in the Doctor Strange 2 post-credits scene?
We’ll no sooner know the answer to that question than the movie’s opening night, but the fandom is nevertheless abuzz with theories and speculation, underlining many of the numerous possibilities with clues and hints that Marvel has dropped so far.
One popular fan theory currently being tossed around within the online circles is a connection between Loki, the concept of the multiverse, and the enigmatic villain at the center of it all: Kang the Conqueror.
A lot of MCU enthusiasts seem to be of the opinion that Marvel is setting up Kang the Conqueror to be the ultimate villain in the next story arc, just like the Mad Titan was in the Infinity Saga. Loki was, after all, the first MCU project to acknowledge the existence of the multiverse and its variants, revealing Kang to be at the heart of the TVA’s twisted mission.
No Way Home only brought that concept to the fore again via Peter Parker’s friendly-neighborhood shenanigans, but it is in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as its title suggests, that we’ll be diving into that rabbit hole in earnest. As such, it stands to reason that Kevin Feige and co. may have been inclined to drop a hint or two about Kang in the upcoming movie.
All of this is ultimately speculation, though, but on the bright side, we’ll be able to get to the bottom of this for ourselves soon enough.