Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron reveals that Black Bolt's horrific death was director Sam Raimi's idea. Helmed by Raimi, the Doctor Strange sequel took the MCU further into the horror genre than it's ever been, as Doctor Strange fought against the Scarlet Witch in a chase across the multiverse. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Benedict Wong, all reprising their roles from previous MCU films. Multiverse of Madness also introduced a slew of Marvel Comics characters into the MCU, including Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Reed Richards (John Krasinski), and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez).
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The Inhuman king, Blackagar Boltagon, also made a cameo appearance in Doctor Strange 2 as part of Earth-838's Illuminati, portrayed by Anson Mount. The actor first appeared as Black Bolt in Marvel's short-lived TV series Inhumans, and his character's MCU debut was equally brief. In one of the most gruesome scenes in the MCU, Black Bolt was the first to die when the Illuminati faced off against the Scarlet Witch. His powerful voice was turned against him when Wanda used her magic to erase his mouth, and Black Bolt's horrified scream blew up his own head.
The shocking death scene went viral on social media, and now the Multiverse of Madness writer reveals how Black Bolt's violent end came to be. In an interview with Empire Magazine (via The Direct), Waldron shares that while his team was unsure at first how to show that Wanda was a serious threat, they knew they wanted the first death to be truly horrifying. Director Raimi provided them with the perfect solution. Check out Waldron's explanation below:
I was at a point in the script where I was like, ’S**t, I don’t know what to do. The movie needs to get drunk. We wanted the first death to feel really horrific: ‘Listen, don’t f**k with Wanda.’ We were sitting on Zoom discussing how we kill Black Bolt, and somebody said his power is shooting ultra-powerful energy from his mouth. And I swear to God, without missing a beat, Sam goes, ‘What mouth?’ And Sam just painted the scene for us… 'And then you just cut to him, Wanda’s just ripped his mouth closed, and he screams, and his head explodes.' That’s master of horror Sam Raimi for you.
According to Waldron, Raimi was able to nail the sense of abject horror that they had wanted almost effortlessly. While he now has several superhero movies to his name, with the Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man trilogy and Multiverse of Madness, the director is probably best known for the Evil Dead franchise. Given his long history with horror, it only makes sense that Raimi's mastery of the genre shone through in Doctor Strange 2. Black Bolt's death was a turning point in the film, when Wanda seemingly passed the point of no return and the Scarlet Witch transformed into a remorseless monster.
Black Bolt's grisly murder may have been the perfect demonstration of Raimi's horror skills, but some Marvel Comics fans weren't happy with the scene. It seemed like Black Bolt's slaughter was another indication of Marvel's disinterest in the Inhumans storyline. Of course, even though Black Bolt's Multiverse of Madness death brought the character to a very certain end, there is still a chance he could return to the franchise in the form of a different variant. Still, even if Black Bolt never returns to the MCU, his death in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will remain one of the franchise's most memorable.