A “Previously on…” montage could very well be the solution. Treat the entire MCU as one massive tv-show.
Some of the D+ shows included clips from the movies in their “Previously on…”-segments.

But here’s the thing: We live in the age of the internet, so instead of playing that montage in the cinema, they could just upload it to YouTube a few days before the release.
“Summary of everything you need to know to watch Doctor Strange in the MoM”
Then the continuity sticklers can watch it, and the casual viewers can ignore it.

The first words we hear in DOCTOR STRANGE 2 are in Spanish, and that’s a big deal for Latinx representation and for Marvel Studios continuing to diversify its cast. I also think that it nods toward the film’s subtext.

When I walked out of the theater, I heard teens complaining, “It doesn’t make sense for a Hispanic chick to be called ‘America,’” and like, dude, you’re saying a Latinx person can’t be American? America Chavez is a complex challenge to White hegemony because she constantly defies expectations and traditions. She’s a naturally and precociously talented character who comes from a lesbian family (is this a dimension exclusively of women like in the comics? We intentionally don’t know). She’s Hispanic, and American-themed -qualities against expectations of White audiences, fed decades of White, Male patriotic stars. She represents the changing face of the future, and everyone wants to exploit her.

Critically, Wanda -a White woman- wants to kill a Latina teen to prevent the world from moving on and instead recreate her defunct, White suburban fantasy that was built on a twisted lie in the first place. What’s more, Wanda isn’t interested in briefly using America Chavez’s powers and letting her be; Wanda wants to kill America for her powers so she can micromanage the multiverse, desperately holding onto power and her motherhood, even at the expense of countless other worlds.

Movie’s trying to say something, y’all.

Marvel apparently refused to cut the footage of America’s two moms for Saudi Arabia, which is great. LGBTQ+ communities around the world are under attack now more than ever, and even this little bit of normalization in media helps a little bit.



#112 America Chavez
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 50
Keywords: Kamar-Taj, Mystical, Teen

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I've been to 72 dimensions, 73 counting this one: During set-up, modify your initiative roll by +1. If you lose the roll, you choose the map and first player places their figures first.
You don't want to get stuck in the paint dimension: Carry: 3.
Can't Control It: Phasing/Teleport. FREE: roll 1d6 and your opponent moves America Chavez that many spaces.
Star Punches: Close Combat Expert & Force Blast.

That's a really cool America Chavez dial for her role in the movie - as a borderline McGuffin that grows into the co-lead at the end. I love that she's going to determine the map no matter what. I wish she had a STOP click or a way to teleport enemies, but that would probably needlessly bloat her point cost.

I wish we'd seen more of the brash, confident, assured America from the comics but I think the writers and Xochitl Gomez did a great job imbuing her with a lot of resilience and strength even as the story demands she take a more passive, "origin story" role. And by leaving the plot thread of her parents unresolved and having her on Prime 616 Earth learning at Kamar Taj, it leaves the door open for the stronger, more confident America to lead the Young Avengers/Champions/Ultimates with her besties Kate and Kamala in the future which I can't wait for.

But honestly - you just broke the whole movie open for me. That's a layer that, as a white guy, I sorta missed and it makes the whole thing sing. My love for this film grew two sizes today - thanks Squabbler!

I missed that layer, too, and I still don't really see it. How are Wanda's actions meant to be an allegory for white people exploiting minorities?

I like the dial.

I think first and foremost, Wanda is so wrapped up in what she wants, so tunnel-visioned onto a life that not only isn’t really hers, but also isn’t really real, that she refuses to see America as anything but a tool, a means to an end. America isn’t a person in her estimation. She isn’t a human being with a life and a right to live, she’s just a thing that can do the job that she wants done.

And I think that’s what’s really key in the comparison. Wanda is focused on her wants - not her needs, but her wants - and in so doing, completely dehumanizes America in her attempt to get it.

In that sense, Wanda’s not entirely unlike Dark Magic Karen.

Oh, I see. The dehumanising aspect was what threw me off, since it meant Wanda’s actions had nothing to do with America Chavez’ culture or identity. But that was exactly the point. Thanks for explaining!

Some interesting metaphoric exploration of the character going on up there (along with a nice dial).

I think America's ending decision that she actually can challenge Wanda would have had more weight if she had been shown practicing hitting things for more than a few minutes inside her science box (and that one stomp against Gargantos). It felt like a very Disney-princess ending for a movie where a guy Scanners'd himself.

Yeah if we're gonna nitpick - I think the Gargantos fight could have been a few minutes shorter since it just sorta goes on and on, and that would have bought a few extra minutes to develop America a bit more, or to even further flesh out some of the key story beats. I know it's a Marvel movie and people like to see fun fights (and Wanda v. Illuminati is not what I'd call a "fun fight"), but that fight felt sorta overlong. When Stephen says "I know you can do this, you've been able to the whole time, now go kick this Witch's XXX" it should be a huge cheering moment at the level of "Dormmamu, I've come to bargain", but it left me sorta flat without a little more build-up to back up that belief.

Many thanks, friend! I did consider a STOP click, but I reasoned that it wasn't a sudden power shift; more claiming what was already there. That said, I'm happy to add one depending on what folks think! I may just shift around the other powers to keep the language streamlined.

You raise a great point about America's characterization! I wasn't familiar with the character, and while I sensed her resilience, strength, and moxy, that didn't strike me as distinct from the MCU's deluge of rogues with hearts of gold and didn't sell me one what I should love about her. Maybe she could've used that brashness, especially if she's seen more in a few weeks/months than Strange has seen in his entire lifetime.

Haha admittedly, I feel weird about calling the MCU the 616. Like... it isn't. The 616 is the 616, and we could go on for hours listing the differences. The previous MCU wiki page listed the MCU as Earth 199999. My headcanon is that denizens of the 199999 mistakenly think of themselves as Earth 616 because they lack the technology to truly see the full scope of the multiverse.Many thanks, friend! Haha felt like I spent a good chunk of time finessing the map-selection timing and language.
Thanks for the assist, No-Name! I'd say that the White exploitation/disavowal of non-Whites is more in the subtext of the film, but present.

American discourse is currently awash with how White feminism can still be conservative, regressive, self-serving, and lacking true, inclusive intersectionality. Wanda's willingness to kill POCs and doom entire universes in pursuit of a traditional, suburbanite lie is a subtle critique of White feminism in that regard.

(Make no mistake, we still absolutely need feminism, especially in an increasingly radicalized world, but we need it to be intersectional, inclusive, and egalitarian.)

Party to that, Wanda spends 99% of the film unable to accept that the universe shouldn't order itself according to her whim --something that Doctor Strange, meanwhile, spends the film confronting and internalizing about himself, despite perhaps his natural inclinations...Many thanks, friend! It's always fun parsing out what a movie's doing -and trying to find ways to translate that to dials!

You make a great point about America's solution to Wanda's villainy. It's tricky because I feel like emotionally, it's the right way to stop Wanda -more power, like the Book of Vishanti, is a cheap, non-thematic way to turn the tables on her; but such an emotional confrontation feels at odds with how gnarly the rest of the film had been.

I wonder if it would've felt more earned and impactful if America had simply had more time with Wanda -where we see what relationship they have, how they feel about the other, what America pledges to do once she's free, etc. The choice to stop Wanda with compassion is more in keeping with an inclusive femininity -much like Sersi's choices at the end of ETERNALS (plus Wanda's kids cowering at her is resonant as hell)- which makes me think it thematically works...

...but it sure lacks the karmic punch of Wanda being Dragged to Hell* by demons or something. Full agree, there!
Interesting, not a fan of the Illuminati fight? Haha I thought it was riotous fun, but I grew up mainlining Raimi's nutty horror, so...

You make a great point about America's coming into power not feeling as fist-pumping as the Dormammu confrontation. FWIW, Strange dreamwalking into Supreme-Strange's corpse was that for me.

I'd need to watch the climax again because I can't recall how it felt when America stood up from the altar -if it felt triumphant or desperate, etc. There's definitely a way for that to feel exciting af, though.

At the time, I remember feeling a sense of poignance as Strange relinquished control to both save America and give her the win. Knowing when he has to do his thing vs. when to step back and let someone else do their thing.

Thinking about it, it almost feels like America doesn't get as huge a moment because the film wanted the focus to be on Scarlet Witch's epiphany?

Would need to watch again to verify.

YES. YES YES YES. I thought it in the theater, vocalized it during the trip home, and reached much the same conclusion as you (though didn't they say Strange was from 616, not in 616 right then? They're 838). These movies are not the same as the comics continuity, they should have their own numbers (they did the same thing with '1610' in Into the Spider-Verse, too, and I reacted the same way).

The Book of Vishanti seemed like a total cop-out (though if it had turned out to be the Necronomicon and Ashley showed up pursued by a bunch of Deadites all would have been forgiven), so I'm glad they didn't use it.

I actually think Hawkeye handled this well by setting Kate up as a gifted archer, then having her spend time around Hawkeye and watching him use (and refill) his equipment before she gets on his level in the finale. But since America is the only one in the multiverse (?) with her powerset, that couldn't happen.

If Strange/Wong/Ash (I'm not giving it up) had made a full-out attack to distract Wanda while America psyched herself up, it would have worked for me, but Wanda waiting for Strange to give America a pep talk and waiting for her to internalize it felt forced, since earlier-in-the-movie Wanda would've turned the whole crew into hamburger before anyone got a hit in. Maybe if Strange had given a version of the you-are-capable speech to America earlier (like when they're stuck in the science cells), then quietly reinforced it at the end, it would have come across less klunky.

I believe the scene mostly went the way it did so the film could get a "you just need to realize you're super unique and capable of anything you set your mind to and everything will work out" message across to the audience in the finale, which again, did not fit the tone of the rest of the film. A more mature idea was stated more artfully by Professor X earlier in the movie when he talks about judging one Strange by another Strange's actions (my favorite moment in the film). That was an in-character interaction and a statement of a more on-script theme (you can change, but you must choose to work on overcoming your worse tendencies when confronted with them).

I take exception to the idea that Wanda was stopped with compassion. What America did was anything but that. Knowing full well what Wanda did to 838-Wanda, she sent her there specifically to hold up a mirror to her face and force her to realize that yes, she IS the monster. She’s such a monster that she callously victimized herself and the children she claimed to be fighting for.

This is also how I understood that move.
The boys' fear may have also appealed to Wanda's mothering instinct, but it was seeing what she had done to that universe's Maximoff family that finally forced her to confront what she'd been dodging since at least Wandavision: she's been acting like a monster, not a mother.

I absolutely understand your frustrations with the Book of Vishanti. Haha as someone still pissed about how the first movie bastardized Strange lore, it felt weird for this movie to have a moment of that as well. I rationalized it to myself on screenwriting level that the book would've represented the macguffin, easy way out for stopping Wanda, and the removal of it as an option was an All Is Lost moment that significantly raised the stakes and sense of desperation. It doesn't undo the frustration, but it helped me understand why that choice was probably made.

I still hate sling rings.

I also agree that Strange giving America that speech in the holding cells would've been a great set-up and him reprising a line of it at the end would've been a stronger payoff, yeah.

Ah, my poor clarity! I totally agree with you, friend! I more mean that the nonviolent solution to stopping Wanda was more compassionate than directly sending her to Hell or something. Your read is the correct read, imho.

And here we have that first peeve I mentioned earlier. The MCU is now supposedly Earth-616. It's a small detail, but I'm gonna rant about it.

The whole point of the number system, is to make it easier to identify exactly which universe you're talking about.

When I say "Hank Pym (616)", I expect other comic fanatics to know, that I'm refering to the Avenger-founding, Ultron-building Man in the Ant Hill. But now, they might think I'm refering to Old Man Pym from the MCU, and that's really annoying.

I get that the film-makers probably chose that number as an intentional nod to the comics, but I feel like it just backfires on all fronts:
Most people won't know about it, so it doesn't matter.
Those who do know, are more likely to be annoyed by the inconsistency, like we are.
There might also be a desire of authenticity in the writers' motivation. If they make their world Earth-616, then that means theirs is the main one that matters. But that just makes it worse, because that makes it seem like they're trying to usurp comic-616's spot.

On top of that, it also causes a cosmic coincidence in the MCU, since liar-liar Mysterio also claimed that the MCU is Earth-616.
With him, I thought it was a great comic reference, since he was lying.
But now, he was accidentally right? Did he see a dream of his 838-self talking to Christine about it, or something? Oh well.


Additionally, this annoys me, because the multiverse was a cool way to tie the MCU closer to the comics, by implying that they actually exist in the same multiverse. I even dared to hope that they might one day have a multiversal crossover with the Earth-616. How cool would that have been?!

But now, the two multiverses are seemingly incompatible, partially because of the number system, and partially because Wanda supposedly destroyed every multiversal copy of the Darkhold, and I doubt the comics are going to stop using the Darkhold now.

So if I want the MCU to fit into the comics' multiverse, I have to assume that both of those claims are wrong. 838-Christine is not a proper authority on the number system, and Wanda only destroyed the Darkhold in some universes. Maybe all the ones that are sufficiently similar to hers?

It can work, but it's wonky. Maybe they'll retcon it like that, if they ever introduce the Captain Britain Corps, since they're in charge of the numbers in the comics.


Also, yeah, Into the Spider-Verse did the same thing, placing Miles in 1610, and Peter B. Parker in 616, but at least they were subtle about it.


Tl;dr: 616 is already taken! Try again, MCU

I dunno, maybe it’s because I haven’t found the comics worth reading in several years, but that didn’t bother me nearly as much as I would have imagined it would.