Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Ending And Post Credit Scene Explained

Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness: Ending & Post Credits Explained

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re explaining the ending and post-credits of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

For this video, we’ll be doing a deep dive into the final scene and the post-credits from Doctor Strange’s latest mind-bending adventure. In case you haven’t seen the film yet, the most maddening thing about this video will be the spoilers.

What are your thoughts on the film’s ending and post-credits? Let us know in the comments.

Although it has the Marvel branding, “The Multiverse of Madness” is a Sam Raimi picture from start to finish. While Raimi ended each of his “Spider-Man” movies on an optimistic note, his horror films are known for having dark twist endings that see the protagonists in peril. In the first two “Evil Dead” movies and the alternate ending to “Army of Darkness,” it appears Ash Williams will get out unscathed, only for fate to deal him a cruel hand. In “Drag Me to Hell,” the ending lives up to its title. Since “Multiverse of Madness” is both a superhero movie and a horror movie, the ending finds a balance between dark and hopeful… albeit mostly dark.

Everything seems to be coming up Stephen as Dr. Strange walks out into the streets of New York. Crossing the street, though, Strange collapses and grabs his forehead in agony. Suddenly, a third eye emerges on his forehead before we cut to the credits. The eye is identical to the one that Strange’s sinister counterpart had in the alternate universe. In this reality, Sinister Strange opened his eye to dark magic, resulting in his world’s destruction. Although Earth-616 Strange ultimately follows a righteous path, he takes several dark turns to save the day, namely possessing the dead body of Defender Strange and using demonic creatures as a cape substitute. Now that Strange has gotten a taste of dark magic, is the third eye a sign that he’s headed down the same twisted path as Sinister Strange?

Maybe, but the third eye isn’t necessarily a symbol of evil. Don’t forget, when they first met, the Ancient One encouraged Strange to “open [his] eye” while grabbing his forehead. Although that initially sounded figurative, perhaps the Ancient One’s words should’ve been taken literally. The first “Doctor Strange” film also saw him come into possession of the Eye of Agamotto, which holds the Time Stone. The Eye of Agamotto was crushed in “Infinity War,” but Strange is seen with it again in “No Way Home.” By this point, the Time Stone has been destroyed, but that’s not the only purpose that the Eye of Agamotto serves.

In the comics, the Eye of Agamotto is used to see “the truth,” revisit recent events, and probe minds. It also has powers along the lines of telepathy and can stay with the wearer in astral form. Notably, a third eye can appear on one’s forehead when it’s worn. So, why did the eye surface on Strange’s forehead now? Could it be linked to Strange’s brush with dark magic, signaling his descent into corruption? That’s one possibility. However, it could also be a sign that Strange has opened his eye to see the truth. What’s the truth that Strange finally confronts, though?


Strange may be a genius who understands much about our existence. One thing that he was never able to figure out, however, was his relationship with Christine Palmer. For all the highs and lows they shared, Strange held onto hope that it might work out between them. As much as Strange loves her, he seemingly accepts that he’s not going to end up with Christine in his universe or any reality he visits. This differentiates Strange from some other versions of himself, who became obsessed with Christine to the point of madness. Now that Strange has opened his eye to the truth about Christine, perhaps he can open himself up to a new relationship.

This leads to our first post-credits scene where he encounters someone clearly not from his neck of the woods. We all immediately recognized Charlize Theron, but who is the Oscar-winning actress playing in the MCU? Based on her long hair and purple ensemble, longtime comic readers will recognize her resemblance to Clea. Outside of the comics, Clea’s most significant onscreen appearance was in the 1978 “Doctor Strange” TV movie, which reduced her to a damsel in distress with no powers. While she does get held hostage multiple times in the comics, Clea is otherwise vastly different. In addition to being the daughter of Umar and Orini of The Dark Dimension, she has an uncle you might be familiar with, Dormammu.

On the printed page, Clea makes her debut when Strange first confronts Dormammu. Clea was absent when Strange bargained with Dormammu in the MCU, but all three of them might be sharing the screen soon enough. Clea opens a portal to what appears to be the Dark Dimension where Dormammu resides. Strange agrees to follow her, now casually sporting his third eye. This begs the question, “Has Strange learned to control his third eye or is the third eye running the show?” Either way, Doctor Strange will return and it’s safe to say Clea will too.

The comics see Strange become a mentor to Clea. Although we haven’t seen much of Clea in the MCU thus far, she already seems pretty capable. While we don’t know if future movies will explore the teacher-pupil angle, their relationship runs even deeper than that. Strange and Clea become allies and eventually lovers who exchange vows. With Strange moving on from Christine, the next film will likely explore his partnership and romance with Clea. Clea is inclined to be more than a supporting character, as she’s taken on the monikers of Sorcerer Supreme and Sorceress Supreme. The MCU can never have too many sorcerers, although Mordo may disagree with that.

So, what does the final post-credits scene bring us? A scene revealing the aftermath of the Illuminati showdown? A tease for “Fantastic Four?” Tom Cruise as an alternate version of Tony Stark? Nope! We return to Bruce Campbell’s Pizza Poppa, still slapping himself silly. Not anything mind-blowing, but it’s a Sam Raimi movie. We’d be disappointed if there wasn’t an extra scene with Mr. Campbell!

While played for laughs, this moment is significant for the MCU. As Strange’s spell wears off, Pizza Poppa turns to the camera and tells the audience that the movie is over, calling the end of the 2013 “Evil Dead” remake to mind. Shows like “WandaVision” and “What If…?” have addressed viewers before. Baby Groot has also tripped into the camera. However, the MCU has never given us a fourth wall break quite as blatant as this. So, it shouldn’t feel too out of place when Deadpool inevitably shows up later down the line.

There’s just one question that remains: Are they going to open a pizza ball stand at Avengers Campus? It’d fit in great right next to Shawarma Palace!