One of the greatest, relatively recent additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Doctor Stephen Strange. He first appeared in the 2016 movie Doctor Strange, alongside Mads Mikkelsen and Tilda Swinton, and the response to his performance was incredible. Benedict reprised his character in Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.Now, with the forthcoming release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the Doctor will finally have his sequel. The movie will come out in a couple of months, and until then, all we have to go on is the trailer and what the people involved have said. Let's review everything there is to know.
6 Stephen Strange Will Face Off Against Wanda Maximoff
Wanda Maximoff, also known to fans as the Scarlet Witch, has been a controversial character in a lot of movies, but Elizabeth Olsen's character has proved invaluable and has earned the public's heart. Unsurprisingly, the Scarlet Witch and the Sorcerer Supreme have a lot of things in common, and for a while there was talk of Benedict Cumberbatch reprising his Doctor Strange for the series WandaVision. However, that didn't happen, much to the fans' disappointment.
"Some people might say, 'Oh, it would've been so cool to Doctor Strange.' But it would have taken away from Wanda," explained producer Kevin Feige. "We didn't want the end of the show to be commoditized to go to the next movie - here's the white guy, 'Let me show you how power works'."
According to the trailer, though, we'll be seeing them together this time around. The clip shows Stephen approaching Wanda and asking her for advice on how the multiverse works. What they will be able to do by combining their abilities will surely be beyond spectacular.
5 Stephen's Relationship With Christine Palmer
In the first movie, one of the first things viewers learned was that Doctor Strange and his colleague, Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) used to be an item. While both of them state that their relationship hadn't been serious, it soon becomes obvious that they care deeply about each other. In fact, Christine is the person that helps him the most immediately after his accident. At the end of the movie, they share an intimate moment in which Stephen apologizes for how he treated her in the past, and despite obviously having feelings for each other, given Stephen's newfound responsibilities, they choose to go their separate ways. It seems people will learn more about the two of them in the new Doctor Strange movie. In the trailer, Christine appears briefly, entering a church in a wedding dress. While Stephen is there wearing a tuxedo, she seems to be walking past him and not towards him. Who is she marrying? And how will that affect the Doctor?
4 Chiwetel Ejiofor Will Be Back As Mordo
As if the Doctor didn't have enough to worry about, an old friend, probably turned enemy, will be making an appearance soon. The man who led Stephen Strange to Kamar-Taj and introduced him to the Ancient One, Mordo (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) left his life as a sorcerer after feeling betrayed by the Ancient One, and turned his back on Stephen when the Doctor's magic became harmful, in his opinion, by violating the natural law.
He appears on the movie trailer, threatening Stephen and reminding him of his warnings, and is guaranteed to create problems.
3 There Will Be An 'Evil Stephen'
In What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?, an episode from Marvel's What If...? series which explores alternative outcomes for the characters, fans get to meet Stephen Supreme for the first time. The episode explores a different timeline in which Stephen and Christine are together in the car when it crashes, and instead of losing his hands, Stephen loses his love. Desperate to get Christine back, Stephen uses what he learns in Kamar-Taj to travel in time and prevent her death, but no matter what he does, he's never successful. Seeing how he refuses to stop, the Ancient One splits him into two alternate versions, one his normal self, and the other Stephen Supreme, an evil version of the Doctor. She thinks Good Stephen can defeat his other self, but she miscalculates Stephen Supreme's powers, and things end horribly wrong.
Near the end of the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' trailer, Mordo tells Stephen that he's the greatest threat to their universe, and immediately after the screen shows Evil Stephen saying "Things just got out of hand."
2 What Benedict Cumberbatch Thinks Of The Character
Now that we've seen Benedict Cumberbatch's breathtaking performance as Doctor Strange, is practically impossible to picture anyone else doing it. But for a while there was a very real possibility of someone else doing it. According to Benedict, he didn't like the character much when Marvel first offered him the job.
"I kind of had my doubts about it, from just going into the comics. I thought 'This is a very dated, sexist character'. And it’s very tied up in that crossover, that kind of East-meets-West occultism movement of the Sixties and Seventies," he explained.
The studio explained to him that the character would be adapted to the 21st century, and he seemed more inclined after that, but then he realized that it overlapped with another project of his, so he had to turn them down. However, Marvel was convinced that he was the only one who could bring their vision of the Doctor to life, so they accommodated to his schedule. Thank God, because the world would have missed out a lot.
1 The Complications In Making The Movie
The release date for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set for May 6th 2022, and while everyone involved is beyond excited about it, it was a challenge to get it done, so they are probably relieved as well. On the one hand, Benedict seemed to be overwhelmed with the workload.
"That's part of the problem," he said when asked by Marc Maron if it was "his movie". He added that "There’s a lot of stuff going on in it. It’s like, 'do I have a character arc in this? Is it working?' There’s great stuff for me to do in it. It’s very busy. It’s called The Multiverse of Madness and it’s bonkers."
Added to this, the production became bumpy after Scott Derrickson stepped down as director due to "creative differences." All in all, however, they managed to pull through, so Marvel fans can be sure that it will be another incredible movie.
