Doctor Strange 2 seems like a given at this point. I mean, the first film grossed $660 million and became Marvel’s biggest single-character launch of all-time. Not to mention that critics seemed to love it and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme quickly found himself a firm fan-favorite. As such, you’d think that the studio would be rushing to get a sequel into production, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
We’ve no doubt that they’ll eventually give the green light to a follow-up, but unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like that will happen any time soon. According to director Scott Derrickson (who’s been talking up the sequel a lot recently), Marvel is just far too busy at the moment to even think about another solo outing for the Master of the Mystic Arts.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly to promote the home video release of Doctor Strange, here’s what he shared:
“Right now, I don’t think the people at Marvel are calling anybody for anything. They’re making way too many movies at once right now [to do that]. [Given] how intimately involved they are in the development and shooting and post-production of those movies, they’ve got their hands very full right now.”
While it is disappointing to hear that the studio is too pre-occupied to dive back into the world of the Sorcerer Supreme, it makes perfect sense. Marvel is currently juggling Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, both of which just began production, and Spider-Man: Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which are both gearing up for very big releases later this year. Plus, they’ve also got Thor: Ragnarok arriving near the end of 2017.
It’s certainly a good time to be a fan of all things Marvel, but we really can’t fault them for not wanting to take on an additional project right now. It’s better that they just focus on the aforementioned films and once they get those out the door, then turn their attention towards Doctor Strange 2. It will likely be several years before they get to it, but fans can at least rest easy knowing that Cumberbatch it set to show his face in a whole host of MCU movies before then, like Ragnarok and Infinity War – though we’re not sure how large of a role he’s set to have in the latter.
Doctor Strange hits DVD and Blu-ray on February 28 and aside from Benedict Cumberbatch, also stars Mads Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams and Tilda Swinton, among others.
