Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ended on a hell of a cliffhanger. After his dimension-hopping, music-fighting, corpse-possessing antics, things are finally looking up for Strange until his serenity is busted open when Charlize Theron’s Clea arrives to tell him his actions have triggered an incursion they must fix. She slashes open a portal to the Dark Dimension, he opens his third eye and…
Well, what comes next will presumably be the opening of the still-unannounced Doctor Strange 3. Nothing is officially known about the movie, though it’s safe to assume Clea will be at the heart of it.
But rumors are currently building as to what’s going to happen, and that it may directly set up the events of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. According to The Cosmic Circus, (who heard it from their anonymous sources) Doctor Strange 3 will take inspiration from the “Time Runs Out” comics arc.
We’ll learn that Clea is a member of The Black Priests, who reside in a dead universe ruined by an incursion. They’ll reveal that the Multiverse itself is slowly dying due to multiple incursions by both Strange and Kang, with the movie apparently leading straight into The Kang Dynasty.
Of course, we’ve all been here before when it comes to unsubstantiated rumors and gossip. However, Doctor Strange 3 will come at some point, will feature Clea, and it makes sense to expand on Multiverse of Madness‘ assertion that Strange is a dangerous threat to multiversal stability.
That said, the ongoing writers’ strike means that any work on Doctor Strange 3 must be on pause right now, so who’s to say how the project will ultimately pan out? We’re just hoping they bring Sam Raimi back, as he successfully spiced up the MCU action with his own inimitable style.