Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron has explained why that character is introduced in the post-credits scene. Major spoilers ahead!
In the mid-credits stinger, Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange comes face to face with Charlize Theron's Clea, who cuts a hole in reality and tells the sorcerer that he caused an incursion – and they're going to fix it.
"We knew that we wanted to introduce Clea," Waldron told Gizmodo. "She's Strange's great love in the comics and it was felt to me like Strange wasn't at the point at the start of our movie where he was ready to meet the love of his life. It felt like we had to close the loop with he and Christine Palmer. And so after she gives him her wisdom to not be afraid of loving someone, then it felt like we were right to tease what could be eventually with he and Clea."
The movie does indeed bring an end to Stephen and Christine's love story – the 616 version of Christine marries someone else, and the 838 version returns to her own universe after bidding goodbye to Strange.
There's no word yet on when Clea might reappear in the MCU, but it seems her and Stephen have quite the adventure ahead of them… and a grand romance is on the cards. You can read more about Clea with our explainer on her comic book history.
Waldron has also recently cleared up which version of Professor X that is in the Illuminati. "He uses a line from Days of Future Past that he says to Stephen. But also, we drew from the classic cartoon version of that character," he explained. "He's a variant who has qualities of a bunch of different versions of those guys from across the multiverse."
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is in theaters now. For much more on the movie, check out our explainers on:
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- Patrick Stewart is Professor X – but not the one you think
- Our full WandaVision recap
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