Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Marvels and LokiDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesswas the long-awaited sequel to 2016’sDoctor Strangeorigin film, and is the 28th film in the MCU.Multiverse of Madnessfollows Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), who teams up with America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) as they travel across the Multiverse to prevent the Scarlet Witch from obtaining America’s universe-hopping powers. The film features a record number ofcameo appearances from actors, including John Krasinski and Bruce Campbell. The film came in as the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2022 and has been subject to a great deal of praise, particularly for Sam Raimi’s direction.
Update August 19, 2025: The article has been updated following the release ofThe Marvels, the season 2 finale ofLoki, and the teaser trailer for season 2 ofWhat If…?with more information about incursions and what it means for the future of the MCU.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesshas brought a great deal of new canonical content into the MCU. One such aspect introduced in the film is the concept of incursions, something that had never before been mentioned in the MCU. While theDoctor Strangefilms are full of magic and powerful sorcery, incursions are a new addition to the MCU. Incursions do receive an explanation inMultiverse of Madness, considering the great threat that they pose to Multiversal peace. For the most part, however, incursions are still unknown and only recently got a payoff inThe Marvels. So, based on what’s been revealed to us, what exactly is an incursion?
What is an Incursion?
An incursion occurs when boundaries between universes corrode and eventually end up colliding with one another. The collision course of an incursion can lead to the destruction of one or both corroding universes and usually results in the heroes of each universe fighting for the survival of their own universe and the people within. InMultiverse of Madness, the incursions lead the audience to experience many versions of many heroes throughout the Multiverse. This includes John Krasinski as Reed Richards, who explains the gravity of messing with the Multiverse and the potential catastrophic consequences of incursions.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: Why is It Forbidden to Possess a Dead Body?
When Doctor Strange possesses a dead body in Multiverse of Madness, the Souls of the Damned tell him it’s forbidden to do so. Here’s why.
Famously, incursions were the driving force of the 2015Secret Warscomic that the film is going to adapt. As the multiverse began to die and collapse in on itself, incursions began to happen as universes were colliding and destroying one another. Groups like the Illuminati did what they could and made hard choices to sacrifice other Earths to maintain their own, but more incursions continued regardless. No matter what people of different realities tried, it was impossible to stop the inevitable oncoming destruction of worlds until only one remained.
Rules of Incursions
When Stephen Strange meets with The Illuminati, Reed Richards proceeds to explainhow exactly incursions workto him. Reed explains that his presence in an alternate universe that is not his own confuses the universe and destabilizes reality. As a result, the more evidence Strange leaves behind of his presence in an alternate universe, the more damage he will do. That being said, one does not need to be physically present in other universes to cause an incursion, proven by Strange Supreme using dreamwalking to travel through the multiverse to fight the Scarlet Witch at the end of the movie.
This caused a chain reaction of events that led to an incursion, which resulted in one of the universes being erased from existence altogether. Dreamwalking in and of itself can cause incursions to occur as it creates a large footprint for Strange in many universes through the physical and non-physical presence of Strange.
Who Can Cause Incursions?
So far, it may seem like Stephen Strange, as one of the most powerful magic-users in the world, is the only one powerful enough to cause an incursion, but that is not true. Considering that Wanda Maximoff aka The Scarlet Witch is arguably more powerful than Doctor Strange as she dreamwalked to find America Chavez and is the only being that can portal into alternate realities, she leaves a large footprint whenever traveling between universes. Wanda even proves her power by killing five of the members of the Illuminati in a different reality, leaving an even bigger impression outside of her own universe.
Explained: Is The Scarlet Witch a Villain?
The Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful and complex characters in the MCU, but the question is if she’s a hero or villain. Here’s what we think.
The mid-credits scene ofMultiverse of Madnessintroduces Charlize Theron as Clea, who enlists Doctor Strange’s help to fix the incursion he caused. It seemed like we wouldn’t learn more until the next time Stephen returned to our screens, but a surprise incursion happening in the MCU has pushed the Multiverse saga further than ever.
The MCU’s First Incursion
Marvel’s newest film, aptly titledThe Marvels, brought about a shocking incursion during its third act. The film revolves around theQuantum Bands, as the villainous Dar-Benn looks to unite the pair to create a rift in space between the dying Kree homeworld Hala, and other planets to steal resources from. The bands, one of which being Ms. Marvel’s bangle, are ancient artifacts used to create the jump points in the MCU, bridging two points in space together.
When Dar-Benn finally got her hands on both of them, she was able to clash the bands together to create a tear between two different universes. It killed her in the process, but she managed to manually create the first incursion that the MCU has seen. With the first instance of an incursion finally happening in the MCU, it drastically changes what was known about the Multiverse Saga. It was thought that one could only happen when someone is in a different universe and causes too much destabilization, but this shows there’s another way.
Why The Marvels Has One of the Best Post-Credits Scenes in the MCU
Seemingly insignificant on its surface, the post-credit scene of The Marvels offers huge implications for the future of the MCU.
The bands make it possible to purposefully cause an incursion instead of it being the result of accidental universe meddling. If someone like Kang were to gain control of the Quantum Bands, he would be able to manually cause incursions and the destruction of endless realities. The rift between the two universes was so strong that it would have destroyed both the MCU’s Earth 616 and the universe Monica Rambeau got trapped in when closing it off.
With Monica now stuck in a universe with the X-Men, there’s the potential that her presence there without a way home could cause another incursion. Perhaps this is what leads to an X-Men universe falling apart inDeadpool 3, or means something greater down the line in Marvel’s Multiverse Saga. This also sets up Monica as a huge player when it comes to incursions, as she’s one of the few characters who has the ability to close them.
Canon Events
Something similar to incursions has also been happening in another Marvel property, one tangentially connected to the MCU.Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verseintroduced the idea that changing a canon event from a timeline results in the destruction of a universe. While theSpider-Versefilms are made by Sony without Marvel Studios and the MCU’s involvement, they areconnected through key characters and visuals. Before Miguel O’Hara (Spider-Man 2099) showed Miles Morales the Web of Life of Destiny, it originally appeared as the stand of time seen MCU projects likeLokiandAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
The film shows both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man as part of the web of life of destiny, and as those characters crossed over in the MCU, they are now part of two different universes. In addition, Venom’s universe is shown, and that character briefly was transported into the MCU in the mid-credit scene ofVenom: Let There Be Carnagebefore returning to his world in the mid-credit scene ofSpider-Man: No Way Home. There is also the inclusion of Donald Glover as the Prowler for a cameo scene in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, paying off a cameo from Spider-Man: Homecoming.
These various characters connect the franchise, suggesting that the canon event destruction seen in the Spider-Verse films could, in fact, be incursions and that various characters like Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and hopefully Spider-Ham will appear in an MCU live-action crossover event likeSecret Wars.
Upcoming Incursions
As mentioned previously,Deadpool 3seems to be setting up a world where the 20th Century Fox Marvel universe is falling apart. This could be the result of an incursion. The season finale ofLokiseason 2 also showed Loki recreating the sacred timeline in the form of a Yggdrasil, the world tree in Norse mythology. The branches of a tree tend to bend and twist, likely meaning this will leave the door open to more incursions.
This issupported in the season 2 trailer forWhat If…?,where The Watcher reveals things have gotten more twisted in the multiverse. There is a chance these various alternate realities will start to collide and merge with one another, setting the stage for more multiversal crossovers. WithThe Marvelsinciting the first incursion the universe has seen, it is clear the road toAvengers: Secret Warsis only just beginning.
