The following contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, now playing in theaters.

Michael Waldron, the screenwriter for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, discussed bringing Clea into the story of Stephen Strange.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Waldron was asked about the film's mid-credits scene, in which Strange meets Clea (played by Charlize Theron) and the two set off on their first adventure together. "I was thrilled to introduce her as Clea," Waldron explained. "Clea has been Strange’s counterpart in the comics for a long time. She’s an amazing sorcerer. She’s also his great love; she’s his wife at one point. We had to conclude his story with Christine Palmer — Rachel McAdams’s character —first, and at the end of that Strange walks away with this wisdom. He’s been able to face his fears and not be afraid to love somebody or let somebody love him. I think that’s the perfect place for him to be mentally to finally meet Clea, who’s gonna be a really important figure in his life moving forward."

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Debuting in 1964, Clea is a denizen of the Dark Dimension and niece to its ruler, the dreaded demon Dormammu. Despite this, she rebelled against her family and joined Doctor Strange as his student in sorcery and ally against evil. Clea has also been one of Strange's longest-lasting romantic interests, though recent years have seen them parting ways as Clea has devoted more of her focus on fighting against her uncle's tyranny. Recently, the aftermath of the Death of Doctor Strange story saw Clea inherit the mantle of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme.

Before Clea's introductory scene in Multiverse of Madness, audiences saw Strange face the consequences of all his tampering with dark magic, as he suddenly developed a third eye, much like his corrupted variant. "It was doubly exciting," Waldron said of the film's cliffhanger ending. "It’s like, well, what if Strange has embraced this darkness a little bit? He’s figuring out how to live with this. What does that mean for our hero? That’s an interesting question to pose on its own. Now here comes Clea saying, ‘You caused an incursion. You did the thing— perhaps the very thing—you were hoping Wanda wouldn’t do. Now we’ve gotta fix it together.’ So, yeah, it just felt like a nice little tease of adventures to come."

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What the future holds for both Doctor Strange and Clea is unknown at this time. Benedict Cumberbatch, who headlines as Strange, has said he intends to take a break from acting in the near future, but also clarified that he would "absolutely" continue to play the Master of the Mystic Arts for another decade. "If they keep me, and it, interesting and keep him evolving and try to exercise his full potential as a character, I think there’s a lot of places for him to explore," he explained. "So yeah, bring it on."

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently playing in theaters.

Source: Vanity Fair