Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Ending Explained

In short, an incursion occurs when Earths from two universes collide. During the eight-hour window of the conversion event, one of two things will happen. If one of the Earths is destroyed, then its universe also dies, but the other universe survives. If the one Earth is not destroyed during the incursion, then both universes die.

How Did the Heroes Stop the Incursions in the Comics?

Here’s the thing. They didn’t stop the incursions. Where Hickman’s Avengers run tells a rousing tale of universal adventure, his New Avengers comics tell a horror story. As the Illuminati – Reed Richards, Black Panther, Iron Man, Beast of the X-Men, Black Bolt, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Doctor Strange – come up with new solutions, they repeatedly fail. The Infinity Gauntlet allows them to push two Earths apart, stopping an incursion, but the strain results in the destruction of the gems. Another incursion ends only because the Galactus of that universe devours the Earth before it can collide with ours, and the heroes fail to save anyone from that universe.

The ending of Multiverse of Madness points toward the most harrowing part of the New Avengers series, in which an incursion brings together Earths 616 and 4290001, modeled on the DC Universe. The Great Society (a thinly veiled reference to the Justice League) attempts to work with the Illuminati to peacefully find a way to save both universes. But when that fails, Doctor Strange calls upon a dark spell he learned from the cursed Blood Bible. His third eye opening (sound familiar?) in demonic form, Strange unleashes an Eldritch horror on the Great Society, effectively murdering the Justice League analogs of this alternate universe.

Despite the dark lengths to which they go, the Illuminati fails to stop the incursions. Their only recourse is to create a lifeboat to allow some to survive the end of the universe. The heroes on the lifeboat eventually overthrow the new universe created by Doctor Doom and Molecule Man, eventually recreating the Marvel Universe as it was. But they did so without stopping the incursions.

What Does This All Mean For the MCU?

New Avengers eventually reveals incursions to be the work of Doctor Doom, part of his plan to achieve godhood. But in Multiverse of Madness, incursions come from Doctor Strange’s use of the Darkhold. By the end of the film, a repentant Wanda destroys the Darkholds of every reality and the tower that holds the text of the Darkhold has crumbled.

But there’s no reason to think that Multiverse of Madness gives us a happy ending. As Strange walks down the street, with the Scarlet Witch apparently dead and America Chavez safe, he collapses to the ground as an obscene ringing fills the soundtrack. The camera spins around him as he looks up at the sky, a third eye open and staring in horror. What does he see here that’s so alarming? Is it possible that he’s unwillingly witnessing the incursion in the Dark Dimension that Clea later comes to request his help with?