For weeks, while the Marvel limited series WandaVision aired, fans speculated on the actual intentions of the mysterious commercial that aired in every episode. The two leading fan theories were that the commercials were Mephisto or Doctor Strange, and they were actually spot on.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone (via Slashfilm), Marvel chief Kevin Feige confirms that Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange was the one sending Wanda the strange commercials. Strange was originally intended to appear in the series.
The commercials were actually leading up to something big. Strange was attempting to break through Wanda’s psyche and bring her back to reality. Marvel actually finalized a deal with Cumberbatch to appear. A last-minute rewrite saw the Wizard written out of the series all-together:
Feige goes on to say:
“Some people might say, ‘Oh, it would’ve been so cool to see Doctor Strange. But it would have taken away from Wanda. We didn’t want the end of the show to be commoditized to go to the next movie – here’s the white guy, ‘Let me show you how power works.’”
The show ended with a controversial dilemma: How is Wanda the hero and the villain of the series?
No matter how you felt about Wanda by the end, there’s no doubt that the series set-up big things for Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and maybe even the newly-announced The Marvels project.
