If you’re one of the hundred million people who saw Spider-Man: No Way Home this week, you know Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has his work cut out for him when it comes to repairing the fabric of space-time. Fortunately, the first trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (which you’ve seen if you sat through the No Way Home credits) makes it clear that he’s got some help in the form of Wong (Benedict Wong), Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Marvel newcomer Xochitl Gomez, who will play the interdimensional powerhouse America Chavez.
Unfortunately, well, things get out of hand, as seems to always happen whenever these Marvel types start playing fast and loose with reality. When will these guys learn to leave well enough alone?
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the first real sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange, which introduced Cumberbatch into the MCU as the Sorcerer Supreme. Horror maestro Scott Derrickson directed that feature, but he was replaced for the sequel by superhero movie godfather Sam Raimi, who’s having his own little renaissance with the recent nostalgia burst from his Spider-Man trilogy. The most recent Spidey movie toyed with intra-franchise swaps, using the multiverse concept as a way to re-introduce old favorites from past Marvel movies into the contemporary settings. Will this new movie and its Multiverse Madness see even more crossovers? Seems likely.
The movie also stars Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor reprising their roles from the first Doctor Strange movie, along with Tom Hiddleston(!) and, as the trailer reveals, has Cumberbatch playing double duty. By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth, it should be quite a ride.
