The following contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, now playing in theaters.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is largely driven by Scarlet Witch's attempt to capture America Chavez for her own goals. But if she does get her, she has a fairly straightforward plan that mimics Doctor Strange's dark variant. The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film sees multiple characters trying to absorb magical energy at the cost of America Chavez's life, which is strikingly similar to a dark technique from What If...? and suggests other villains might easily gain the same dangerous power.
Introduced in "What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?," one of What If...?'s most terrifying abilities came courtesy of Stephen Strange. In a reality where his desperation to save Christine Palmer resulted in him breaking the laws of reality, Strange showcased the ability to absorb the magical power and abilities of other creatures -- albeit at the cost of their life. A large portion of the episode was Strange spending over a century doing just that, absorbing the life force of increasingly powerful mystical figures until he was prepared to try to change an Absolute Point in time. It was treated as a horrifying moment, a sign of how dark this Strange was willing to become in the name of gaining power.
Multiple characters in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness attempt similar moves, trying to drain and absorb the powers of America Chavez. The film opens with a variant of Doctor Strange attempting to do just that to keep her multiverse-hopping abilities out of the hands of the Scarlet Witch -- only for that Strange to be killed before he can complete the spell. Meanwhile, Wanda attempts something similar multiple times and is only ever stopped by the timely intervention of people like Doctor Strange and Wong. But this clearly suggests that this technique of killing someone or something via absorption isn't just possible but relatively easy -- and that's a terrifying prospect.
Magic has increasingly been shown to be among Marvel's most dangerous elements, with the power capable of altering reality at a whim. When it comes to someone like Scarlet Witch, their powers could alter the fate of the universe -- especially in the hands of someone like the powerful witch Agatha Harkness, who'd initially appeared in WandaVision to try and take her energy for herself. In What If...?, the sinister Strange's attempts to absorb other beings were implicitly a dark act and one that didn't seem easy to replicate. But increasingly, more and more sorcerers and witches have displayed a similar ability. This theoretically means a single magic user could absorb others and steal their power for themselves, increasing their own power level while also depleting and assimilating others.
There are plenty of dangerous magical forces in the MCU already. This means that seemingly anyone can utilize the same move as a dark Strange variant to become more powerful. This could easily allow someone like Agatha (who may now be freed of the spell put on her by Wanda due to the Scarlet Witch's apparent demise) to go on a rampage, absorbing the powers of the weakened sorcerer under Wong's command.
The former Strange ally Baron Mordo could actually be absorbing the magical powers of those he confronts, empowering himself on top of taking away their abilities. A new villain could even arrive who uses this as the basis for their scheme, setting up all sorts of potential magical threats to come to the MCU. With What If...?'s darkest magical technique seemingly easy to perform, it wouldn't be surprising to see more villains try to utilize this power for their own gain down the line.
To see the magical ability in action, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now in theaters.