As it approaches its premiere next week,Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessmight just blow the lid off the interdimensional mess thatLokialready teased last summer, and finally, bring theX-Mento the MCU. What it won’t be doing is connecting Disney Plus' animated Marvel world to the rest of Phase Four, at least according to star Benedict Cumberbatch.
Last year,What If…?episode 4teased a darker Stephen Strange in an episode that pondered what would happen if the world-renowned surgeon lost Christine Palmer instead of surgical skills, thus triggering a breakdown that led to him becoming Doctor Strange Supreme. Since Kevin Feige himself admitted the upcoming sequel is the film fans should look out for to begin untangling the mysteries of the multiverse, and with the confirmed presence of anotherDoctor Strangein it, fan theories had speculated whether theWhat If…?upside-down reality could spill onto the live-action MCU.
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However, that doesn’t seem to be the case, as Cumberbatch recently confessed to Total Film that the characters being portrayed inDoctor Strange 2are “nothing that you’ve seen before.What If…?is a beautiful riff of a potential. And this is something different.” Cumberbatch said this despite the all but confirmed presence of a Captain Carter or Captain Britain. To cap off his comments, Cumberbatch jokingly said, “There are five Spider-Men in this film. Spider-Women, too,” referring to the epic crossover featured inSpider-Man: No Way Home. However, unlike all the Peter Parkers, he will be the one playing all Doctor Strange variants in his movie.
Like most MCU actors, Cumberbatch refuses to spoil any crucial plot elements for fans. However, with confirmation that the Doctor will be facing some form of interrogation from the Illuminati andsome variant of Professor X, there is already a ton of information out there. Besides his usual self, Strange is also bound to suit up as Defender Strange, a non-evil version of the Strange Supreme seen inWhat If…?, and the darker-looking Sinister Strange.
From what has been gathered from trailers and media buzz, the Scarlet Witch is likely to be the movie’s main villain, even ahead of otherworldly beings like Shuma-Gorath and the evil Doctor Strange, especially as the two Avengers now are among the most powerful MCU characters. Another hypothesis being thrown out there is that one of the Strange variants featured in the film couldcome from Sam Raimi’sSpider-Manuniversethat brought Tobey Maguire back inNo Way Home.
Early ticket sales confirm Doctor Strange’s status as Marvel Studios' heavy hitter because, save for Sony’sSpider-Man, the new MCU superheroes have endured a tougher time generating the same level of interest and commercial success as their preceding movies. After all,it does have an X-Men going for it, potentially.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesswill be released in North American theaters on July 30, 2025.
