With Sam Raimi at the helm, no one was surprised to see Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness embrace horror, but did you know one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time also played a role in what we saw play out in the Marvel Studios blockbuster? We are, of course, talking about James Cameron's Aliens, a sequel that also mixed its primary genre with a good dose of horror.
In an interview with Rolling Stone (via SFFGazette.com), writer Michael Waldron was asked about the Scarlet Witch's rampage - which sees her dispatch The Illuminati in a variety of gruesome ways - and cited Aliens as a key inspiration. He even goes so far as to compare the team to that movie's Marines!
"I was watching Aliens a lot as I was writing. Because just tonally this movie is a thriller and a [feature-length] chase. I just love how Aliens goes to great lengths to tell you how badass the space Marines are — and then they just get slaughtered," he explains. "Then you are really scared of the Xenomorphs for the rest of that movie, and that’s what I wanted to accomplish with Wanda."
"At the end of that Illuminati sequence. I hope you were truly terrified of the Scarlet Witch. It’s been awesome being in the theater hearing the cheers, then the gasps and the groans [Laughs]," Waldron continued. "I mean, you know, people were feeling something at the movies. That’s good!"
Looking back at that sequence, it's easy to see where the writer found inspiration in Aliens, and the Scarlet Witch was indeed every bit as terrifying as the Xenomorphs that tore through the Marines.
As for the Alien franchise itself, we know an FX series is in the works after Ridley Scott's divisive prequels fell by the wayside. Marvel Comics has also started publishing a comic book series starring the Xenomorphs, so sci-fi fans remain hopeful that we'll eventually see them back on the big screen.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters!
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