This Tiny Wardrobe Detail In Doctor Strange 2 Is A Message About LGBTQ+ Pride

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a direct sequel to last year’s WandaVision. As Marvel fans will remember, the last time they saw Wanda Maximoff, she retreated to somewhere deep in Eastern Europe while learning about the magic she had always suppressed. When Doctor Strange 2 opens, she’s started to use her newfound powers, accidentally leading Strange to meet America Chavez. But America Chavez’s pin caught fans’ attention and is quickly a significant symbol of Marvel pride.

Warning: Spoilers for Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness follow. America Chavez isn’t from our world. She travels through the multiverse via her primary superpower, punching holes between universes. When Chavez arrives on screen as a 14-year-old kid being chased by rune-covered monsters, she can’t control her power or where she winds up. Then she lands in our world, interrupting Stephen Strange while attending his ex-girlfriend’s wedding.

Fans may have heard America is a controversial figure. The comic book character is an out and proud LGBTQ+ superhero raised by two moms and makes no bones about her crushes on women. However, the scenes that caused Doctor Strange not to be screened in certain countries aren’t about Chavez’s identity, but focus on her two moms. Chavez herself is too busy running from the Scarlet Witch and her monsters to crush on anyone in this film.

But that doesn’t mean the film has wholly stuck Chavez in the closet. The character wears a pride pin on her denim jacket, high enough that the camera captures it whenever it frames her face. It’s slightly different looking from the usual pride pin. (Though the series doesn’t say where she got it, it’s evident Chavez picked up her outfit and pin during her travels.)

Thankfully, wherever she got it, it’s a place where the rainbow flag means the same as it does here. (As she tells Strange, never assume signs and symbols mean the same thing in other universes as they do your own.) And both Marvel and Etsy sellers already have it for sale as the first out and proud symbol from the MCU Universe, aka the 616.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is playing in theaters now. The rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is on Disney+, except for the Spider-Man films and The Incredible Hulk, which are available via Starz, HBO Max, and Amazon rentals.