MCU appetites clearly weren't satiated—for long, at least—by Spider-Man: No Way Home, because fan speculation over the next Strange installment, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is already spilling over in almost every corner of the internet. Is Hugh Jackman gonna show up as Wolverine? How about frequent Sam Raimi collaborator Bruce Campbell—is he gonna pop up as Ash, or even a variant of Mysterio (who he was gonna play in Sony's canceled Spider-Man 4)?
Well, a trailer for the upcoming title has just launched, and it might just create more questions than answers. It looks like the Multiverse of Madness is going to pick up soon after the conclusion of WandaVision: which, as you'll recall, saw Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) retreat into solitude to study the Darkhold, an ancient book of spells. It looks like she might just be a villain, now, overcome with the magical power granted to her by the text. And she isn't the only magician that Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is gonna have to face off against: Evil Doctor Strange, last seen in Marvel's What If?, concludes the trailer with a sinister smirk.
The film has undergone "significant" reshoots, according to The Hollywood Reporter, lasting six weeks, six days a week, in Los Angeles and will include both “additional photography” and “reshoots.” THR stresses that both Raimi and Michael Waldron are both still on the project as director and writer, respectively. Two sources reportedly didn't see the shoots as that big of a deal. “Even while in the middle of production, Marvel is scheduling you for more shooting,” said one of the unnamed sources while another said, “We’ve had bigger reshoots on other MCU movies.” However, other sources have called into question the length of the new shoot. “They’re here until the end of the year. That’s like a whole other movie,” said one.
Director Sam Raimi reflected on why he was making Multiverse of Madness in a typically candid interview, recently, remarking that "it just happened":
"I didn't know that I could face it again because it was so awful, having been the director of Spider-Man 3. The Internet was getting revved up and people disliked that movie and they sure let me know about it. So, it was difficult to take back on. But then, I found out that there was an opening on Doctor Strange 2. My agent called me and said, 'They're looking for a director at Marvel for this movie and your name came up. Would you be interested?' And I thought, 'I wonder if I could still do it.' They're really demanding, those types of pictures. And I felt, 'Well, that's reason enough.' I've always really liked the character of Doctor Strange. He was not my favorite, but he was right up there with the favorites. I loved the first movie, I thought [director] Scott Derrickson did a wonderful job, an incredible job. So, I said, 'Yeah.' They left the character in a great place. I didn't think I would be doing another superhero movie. it just happened."
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to step out of a magical portal and into theaters on May 6, 2022. Catch the trailer below: