New Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Image Shows Wong Having A Bad Day

It looks like the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Wong won't be able to avoid the mess that the events of director Sam Raimi's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" have in store. A newly-released image from the movie indicates that our reigning Sorcerer Supreme is in for a bad time in the upcoming Marvel film — and no, I'm not talking about Doctor Strange.

As we learned in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," Wong became the Sorcerer Supreme as a result of Doctor Strange being one of many to get snapped out of existence for five years due to that purple space-jerk's genocidal mission back in "Avengers: Infinity War." Of course, by the time we get to "No Way Home," Stephen Strange is back and as frustratingly irresponsible as ever, but this isn't about him. It's about Wong.

Above is the image in question, and a quick glance reveals that our boy Wong clearly doesn't look too pleased with his situation. Who can blame him? His wrists are bound by what appears to be some sort of magical rope – you know, because it's glowing and glowing typically means magic for some reason. Additionally, he's either taken something of a beating or was caught up in the fallout of some other monumentally destructive act, since his face is scratched and bloody. Finally, Wong's predicament appears all the more severe against a smoky backdrop, with glowing embers floating amongst the presumed chaos and destruction. Who or what could have led to these unfortunate circumstances?

Now for Some Theories

So far, we know very little about how the events of "Multiverse of Madness" will play out, but it's always fun to guess. Who has Wong tied up, and to what end? Is he a sacrifice of some sort?

Personally, I think another sorcerer is responsible for tying him up, as evidenced by the aforementioned magical bindings. Specifically, I'm predicting that the corrupt version of Doctor Strange we first met in episode 4 of the Disney+ exclusive "What If...?" series is to blame. The episode depicts an alternate timeline of events in which Strange's girlfriend, Dr. Christine Palmer, meets a tragic end. Strange, unable to cope with the loss of his lover, sets out on a quest to prevent her death, ultimately resulting in his own grief-driven corruption and the destruction of his respective universe. This "evil" universe-destroying version of Doctor Strange comes to be known as "Strange Supreme" because he absorbs the powers of other magical entities in an effort to become powerful enough to bring Christine back.

Why is this relevant? Because in the "Multiverse of Madness" trailer, we catch a glimpse of another Doctor Strange who looks remarkably similar to Strange Supreme. If he is indeed the evil version of Doctor Strange, perhaps he has found a way to escape his destroyed universe and resumed his quest to further f*** things up. If this is the case, I'm guessing he either wants to absorb Wong's magic to become more powerful, or he is simply restraining Wong to prevent his interference. Or maybe Wong is being used as bait. The possibilities are endless.

We really don't know how things will play out in the upcoming Marvel movie, but what we do know is that Wong is going to have a pretty unpleasant time at some point. I just hope he survives, but we'll have to wait until "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" hits theaters on May 6 to find out.