The MCU perfected the post-credits "stinger," teasing a sequel or future project. 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness followed that pattern. The final scene showed Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) walking out of the Sanctum Sanctorum when a woman’s voice called to him. Strange met a woman in purple armor (Charlize Theron) who told him she needed aid to stop an “incursion” from another world.
The woman used a mystical dagger to “cut” open a hole in space while Strange spouts a “third eye” and follows her. While not named on screen, fans knew this was Clea, a powerful sorceress from another dimension who, in the comics, becomes Strange’s wife and briefly Sorcerer Supreme herself.
Obviously, this was meant to be a big turn to set up a sequel. But since then, we haven’t seen or heard from Clea since. There are reports she may pop up in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, yet it’s jarring for the MCU to get a big name for a key character and do nothing with her. Sadly, that’s following a new trend.
4 years ago today, Charlize Theron made her #MCU debut as Clea.
— Marvel Updates (@marvel_updat3s) May 6, 2026
She will reportedly return in ‘AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY’ pic.twitter.com/WvhluXWSrQ
Why the “stingers” backfired on the MCU
Keep in mind, in 2022, the MCU was still rolling along well with the build toward The Kang Dynasty. That it would take more than a couple of years for a Strange sequel involving Clea seemed impossible to consider. After all, you don’t cast an Oscar-winning huge star like Charlize Theron if you don’t have major plans for her.
However, as everyone knows, the wheels came off the Marvel bus big time. It started with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underperforming and the Jonathan Major mess ending the Kang plans. That’s rubbed off on other projects to throw them off-kilter.
Eternals ended with the introduction of Harry Styles as Starfox, another character who's been ignored. And that’s not mentioning the voice cameo by Mahershala Ali as Blade, who was supposed to lead a movie that looks like it will never happen. The decision to change everything for Doctor Doom over Kang means even more projects have been altered and shifted.
That’s added onto by the decline in box office as no longer is an MCU movie instant mega-box-office. The franchise has been forced to pivot to smaller films and TV shows rather than another wild Strange adventure. Top it off with the busy schedules of Cumberbatch and Theron, and the stars are just not aligned for a Clea return.
At least it sounds like Doomsday/Secret Wars will give the character some showcase at last. Yet the Clea tease proves how dramatically the MCU’s status has changed in just four years to put their characters in a bind.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is streaming on Disney+.
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