'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' will fix one of the biggest problems with Rachel McAdams' character

• Rachel McAdams' "Doctor Strange" character will be more than a love interest in May's sequel.
• According to a new feature in Empire, we'll see a variant version of Christine Palmer.

When "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" hits theaters this summer, we'll get to see Rachel McAdams' character, Christine Palmer, as much more than a former flame of Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).

Now that parallel universes have been introduced in the MCU in both "Loki" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home," Empire's May issue teases that we can expect to see a variant version of Palmer in the sequel, a version of the character who is more than just an "underutilized Marvel love interest" who Strange continually pines after.

Empire's "Doctor Strange 2" feature reveals: "In another world, Strange meets a very different, and much more involved, Christine."

"I wasn't just wearing scrubs this time around," McAdams told Empire reporter Ben Travis of the direction for her character. "I was certainly a part of things I've never seen on screen."

Fans surmised we may be seeing more than one version of Palmer in the sequel.

Recent trailers for the film teased McAdams with a different hairstyle and sharp periwinkle outfit that hinted we could be looking at an alternate version of the character.

Until now, Palmer has more or less been relegated to the object of Strange's affections in the MCU. That idea was reinforced in a recent animated "What If…" episode that was dedicated to Strange destroying a parallel universe in order to try and bring them together.

Interestingly, original "Doctor Strange" director Scott Derrickson told Insider in 2017 he didn't view Palmer as a love interest.

Not from Palmer's point-of-view, anyway.

Instead, he explained their relationship in the 2016 film was more of a one-sided, unrequited love where only Strange was still longing for something while his former partner had moved on.

"I never thought of her that way," Derrickson told Insider while discussing the film's Blu-ray release at the time. "I think that Christine Palmer was too sturdy and too wise to stay with him. She recognized that he was a narcissistic egomaniac."

"It's a relationship that he's trying to kickstart again and she's not having it. I think her presence in his life, all the way through the rest of the movie, is one of loyalty and compassion and friendship, and not romantic love," Derrickson explained of their bond in the MCU.

He added: "When he finally evolves into the kind of person who she would be with, which is who he is when they're washing their hands together at the end after the death of the Ancient One, he clearly desires her and longs for her. But if you watch that scene, she's very empathetic towards him, but I don't see in her any of the reciprocated struggle of wanting to be with him. I think she's moved on in her life."

And that's exactly what we'll see in "Multiverse of Madness," which teases a distraught and mopey Strange who is forced to watch (in his eyes) the love of his life walk down the aisle and marry someone else.

At the time, Derrickson had told Insider he helped convince Marvel boss Kevin Feige to cast McAdams in the role.

"I was very adamant about casting her and she was by no means the least expensive good actress who was available for the role," Derrickson said. "I remember Kevin Feige when they were trying to make her deal, I remember him calling me and saying, 'Tell me again why it has to be Rachel McAdams.'"

"'And I was like, 'Name another actress of her caliber who's going to react to this magic in a more realistic way and who can stand toe-to-toe with Benedict Cumberbatch in his dialogue scenes," Derrickson said, of making the case for McAdams. "We were kind of going down the line. She's kind of in a league of her own."

In May's "Multiverse of Madness," which is directed by Sam Raimi ("Spider-Man"), it looks like we'll get to see a parallel universe version of Palmer who will get to interact with magic — and Cumberbatch's Strange — much more.

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is in theaters on May 6.