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Despite the continuous shakeups to the upcoming Marvel schedule, we have a release date that should hopefully stick for Doctor Strange 2: May 2022. Fans are undoubtedly excited to return to Strange and see what he’s been up to since the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
In a surprise for MCU fans, the trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness debuted as Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s post-credits scene, before Marvel officially released it online on December 22, 2021.
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So with that out there now, we can finally glean a little more about what’s to come. Here’s everything we know so far about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Doctor Strange 2 release date: When will Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness come out?
Long story short, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will hit cinemas on May 6, 2022, taking the slot of Thor: Love and Thunder which has been pushed back to July 8, 2022.
It means the sequel will now be coming out a year after its originally planned release slot of May 7, 2021, which was then pushed back to March 25, 2022. Hopefully, this new date will stick.
Filming took place between November 2020 and April 2021 with a brief delay due to increased restrictions in the UK. There were reshoots that were completed in September 2021 and now, as mentioned, there was another round that finished in January 2022.
Those reshoots are nothing to worry about, and Benedict Cumberbatch explained that it was to both improve what they have and shoot things they couldn’t before because of COVID.
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, the latest round of reshoots was a result of Loki and No Way Home‘s success, persuading Marvel to have “more fun with the multiverse”.
So expect some more cameos and surprise characters in the sequel if that’s accurate.
Doctor Strange 2 trailer: Watch the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer here!
Marvel officially released the first trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on December 22, 2021, after it debuted as No Way Home‘s post-credits scene.
Check it out below:
It’s our first look at the sequel and features a big surprise that Strange Supreme from What If…? will be in the movie. As Mordo warns Strange: “I’m sorry Stephen. I hope you understand the greatest threat to our universe is you.”
And it ends with a tease of the second character that Cumberbatch is playing in the sequel. More on that below.
Doctor Strange 2 cast: Who will be in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?
Benedict Cumberbatch is, of course, returning as Doctor Strange. He will have a dual role in the movie as the first trailer revealed Strange Supreme also has a part to play in the movie.
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Cumberbatch will be joined by some familiar MCU faces in the sequel and we’ll start with the most exciting one: Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff.
It was confirmed back at Comic-Con 2019 that Olsen would be reprising her role as Wanda Maximoff, who we should perhaps now call the Scarlet Witch, after the dramatic events of WandaVision.
Olsen teased that the WandaVision finale is a “complete tee-up for my character” in the sequel. However, she also confirmed that she didn’t get the story for Doctor Strange 2 until two weeks before WandaVision wrapped.
She said: “I really wish that there was a plan that someone shared with me a little sooner [laughs].” With WandaVision‘s post-credits scene seeing her study the Darkhold, will that mean Scarlet Witch will be an antagonist in the movie?
Either way, Olsen has confirmed that you do need to have seen WandaVision: “Without WandaVision, Doctor Strange wouldn’t make sense. I do feel like it fully leads into where we find her. It feels totally connected to the series.”
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Could Olsen be joined by her WandaVision co-star Kathryn Hahn? It’s been confirmed that Hahn will be back as Agatha Harkness in a spin-off show and, intriguingly, the deal is said to see her reprise the role in MCU movies as well.
Given her connection to Wanda, it would make sense that the Doctor Strange sequel will feature Agatha too, but that’s just speculation on our part for now.
Chiwetel Ejiofor confirmed in June 2020 that he’ll be back in the sequel as Mordo after the plot synopsis had basically confirmed it anyway. The main theories are that he will either return as a reluctant ally of Doctor Strange (especially if Scarlet Witch turns out to be the ‘madness’ that’s creating the multiverse in the first place), or he’ll be a secondary antagonist to Nightmare, as most superhero movies have multiple baddies.
Many presumed Rachel McAdams would likely return as Strange’s sort-of love-interest Christine Palmer, and it was officially confirmed in December 2020 that she will be back, along with Benedict Wong as Wong.
The trailer shows Christine getting married, but it doesn’t look as though Strange is the lucky person she’s marrying…
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Baby-Sitters Club star Xochitl Gomez is joining the cast as America Chavez, a fan-favourite from the comics, while Sam Raimi regular Bruce Campbell has heavily hinted at a cameo role in the sequel too.
As for Tilda Swinton returning as the Ancient One, she is technically dead so we’re unlikely to see her in Doctor Strange 2. But then again, it is the multiverse of madness so you never know.
Also, following Loki‘s big final reveal, we’d be surprised if Jonathan Majors (so far only confirmed for Ant-Man: Quantumania) didn’t pop up somehow as one or more variants of He Who Remains.
Talking of Loki, the finale of that show did hint that we could well see Tom Hiddleston pop up in Doctor Strange 2 as well. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he was “expected” to appear and Hiddleston was in London when the sequel was shooting.
Then again, he lives in London, so it could just be a coincidence. Watch this space.
Doctor Strange 2 plot: What will happen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?
Plot details are thin on the ground, but we do at least have a synopsis:
“After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Dr Stephen Strange continues his research on the Time Stone. But an old friend-turned-enemy puts an end to his plans and causes Strange to unleash unspeakable evil.”
Cumberbatch has been teasing that No Way Home will be surpassed as the “most ambitious standalone superhero movie” by Doctor Strange 2. That perhaps won’t be a surprise to fans as Elizabeth Olsen has been teasing that Doctor Strange 2 sequel is a “bonkers movie” and with Sam Raimi taking over as director, who knows what he’ll bring to the screen on his return to the superhero genre.
We had hoped that WandaVision would make things a bit clearer, with many expecting a Doctor Strange cameo, but that never transpired. It’s still thought that the series did set up the sequel, we just don’t know exactly how just yet.
Since the movie picks up after the show’s events, we’re left wondering whether she’ll be helping Doctor Strange in whatever multiverse shenanigans he needs help with, or if she was the one to cause them in the first place.
The teaser for the sequel shows Strange seeking out Wanda for her help with the multiverse, but it’s still not clear if she will be friend or foe.
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As for how the Multiverse of Madness works within the broader MCU – which now includes Disney+ TV shows – Feige revealed that there is definitely a connection between the Loki series and the Doctor Strange sequel. That’ll be He Who Remains and his variants, we presume.
Feige also revealed the shows are necessary viewing if you want to be caught in time for the movies: “These episodes will intersect with the movies in a very big way. It’s a totally new form of storytelling that we get to play with and explore,” he explained (via Variety).
In November 2021, a potential villain in the movie was spoiled in an unexpected way as Gargantos appeared on an official jigsaw puzzle for the sequel.
It had been rumoured that the dimension-ruling demon would be hunting for America Chavez in the sequel. Given that we know Chavez is going to be in the movie, this could well be the case.
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As for whether Doctor Strange 2 could mark Cumberbatch’s final outing in the MCU, we don’t have too much to fear on that front.
Talking about his potential Marvel future in December 2021, the star explained: “As long as the character is interesting and challenging and doing fantastic things in the MCU, why not?”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is released in cinemas on May 6, 2022.
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