10 Ways Multiverse Of Madness Sets Up America Chavez’s MCU Journey

10 Ways Multiverse Of Madness Sets Up America Chavez's MCU Journey

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The MCU’s latest big-screen release, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is a lot of movie. Sam Raimi’s long-awaited return to the superhero genre functions as a few different things: a sequel to Doctor Strange, a follow-up to WandaVision, and the debut of the MCU’s multiverse in all its mind-bending glory. The movie also acts as an MCU origin story for America Chavez.

RELATED: 10 Biggest Surprises In Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

By the end of Multiverse of Madness, Chavez has been set up as one of the franchise’s most exciting new heroes, poised to join an MCU Young Avengers team. Multiverse of Madness is just the first stage of what will surely be a long-running character arc. The movie sets up her future in the franchise in a few key ways.

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10 America’s Tragic Backstory Is Revealed By The Earth-838 Memory Bank

Xochitl Gomez America Chavez Doctor Strange 2 Multiverse of Madness

The MCU is getting more and more succinct with its origin stories. At the beginning of Multiverse of Madness, America is introduced with her interdimensional superpower in full swing. Her origins are revealed when she and Strange end up on Earth-838, where a “Memory Bank” is able to visualize the most important memories from their lives.

Strange is reminded of the time that Christine gifted him a wristwatch. America is reminded of the time that she was frightened by a bee and opened up a portal that sucked her mothers into another dimension.

9 She Becomes Doctor Strange’s New Sidekick

Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange and Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez in Multiverse of Madness

The role that America fills in her MCU debut is Doctor Strange’s new sidekick. Wong usually fills this role, but in Multiverse of Madness, he’s taken hostage by the Scarlet Witch, so the role is vacant.

As Strange and America find themselves stranded across the multiverse, she becomes his new wisecracking cohort. Their dynamic is totally different than Strange’s dynamic with Wong; it’s sort of a father-daughter relationship.

8 Multiverse Of Madness Uses America As A Human MacGuffin

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Doctor Strange 2.

Audiences leave Multiverse of Madness with an awareness of America’s powers because she’s the movie’s human MacGuffin. Like most MacGuffins, America is the plot device that the villain wants and the hero is trying to protect.

But she’s not a glowing briefcase or a black statuette of a falcon; she’s a character with such immense power that the most powerful Avenger will kill whoever she has to in order to extract it for herself.

7 She’s A “Chosen One” Figure With A Bad Case Of Impostor Syndrome

America Chavez running on a street in Doctor Strange 2

America doesn’t know how or why she acquired the ability to travel between universes, so naturally, she doesn’t feel worthy to wield it. She can’t control it, so she suffers from a bad case of “impostor syndrome.” A “chosen one” figure suffering from “impostor syndrome” is a classic Marvel archetype.

RELATED: 10 Best Performances In Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

It can also be seen in Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, Shang-Chi, and countless others. Self-doubt makes these superhuman characters feel vulnerable and therefore relatable.

6 America Is The Key To Exploring The Multiverse

Doctor Strange and America Chavez fall into a cube universe in Multiverse of Madness.

Ever since the season finale of Loki branched out the Sacred Timeline, the focus of the MCU’s Phase Four has been expanding the multiverse. With her ability to travel across the multiverse, America could be the most important new character in this phase.

America doesn’t need to dreamwalk and cause an incursion just to hop from one reality to another; all she has to do is punch the air to open up a star-shaped portal to another universe.

5 She’s Both Heroic And Vulnerable

America Chavez trapped in Doctor Strange 2.

America is a classic Marvel hero because she strives to do the right thing, but she’s still vulnerable. She suffers from the same emotional pitfalls that everybody else does, like getting scared in the face of danger.

For a long time, fear was what triggered her power. This blend of unwavering heroism and relatable vulnerability is the sweet spot that makes most Marvel heroes so inspiring and lovable.

4 Strange Inspires Her To Control Her Powers

During the final battle, Wong tells Strange that the only way to defeat Wanda is to extract America’s powers and kill her. When Strange frees America from Wanda’s spell, that’s exactly what she thinks is going to happen. But he doesn’t want to do that.

RELATED: 10 Strangest Things That Happened In Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

He’s convinced that America can actually control her powers and that she’s been taking them to all the right universes all along. He inspires her to take command of her powers and use them to destroy the Scarlet Witch.

3 America Defeats The Scarlet Witch (With Compassion)

Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange 2 Multiverse of Madness

Not only does America manage to singlehandedly defeat the Scarlet Witch in the finale of Multiverse of Madness; she manages to do so in a compassionate way. She doesn’t just eviscerate her by sending her into a universe made of fire or a universe made of knives.

America sends Wanda to Earth-838 to work out the error of her ways on her own by seeing herself through the frightened eyes of her multiversal sons.

2 Strange Believes America’s Mothers Are Still Out There Somewhere

Doctor Strange, America Chavez, and Christine Palmer in a tunnel

America’s origin story is a twist on the typical “orphaned superhero” trope. She’s been mourning the loss of her mothers for years, but they’re not definitely gone. Strange believes they’re still out there somewhere.

When he sees the memory, he assures America, “If they’re anything like their daughter, they survived.” Now, America’s interdimensional superhero career has a solid goal: to reunite with her long-lost parents.

1 America Is Training As A Sorcerer At Kamar-Taj

Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

At the end of Multiverse of Madness, the rebuilt and repopulated Kamar-Taj is once again filled with sorcerers-in-training – including America Chavez, who’s just getting started. She’s trying her best, but she can’t open a portal yet. She’s able to produce a few sparkles but unable to conjure anything out of them. America laments the fact that opening portals within the same universe is more difficult than opening portals to other universes.

Strange comments that she needs to slow down and not get ahead of herself, to which Wong draws parallels with Strange’s own training. With this ending, the movie not only sets up America to be Strange’s spiritual successor; she’s set up to succeed him as a Master of the Mystic Arts, too (eventually).

NEXT: 10 Biggest Implications From The Ending Of Multiverse Of Madness

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About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3538 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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