After Spider-Man: No Way Home busts down the doors to the multiverse in a couple of weeks, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to properly dive into the other universes out there in the spring. So far, Marvel has kept the sequel to the Sorcerer Supreme’s 2016 origins movie under wraps so we hardly know what to expect from it. But, going by the latest comments from its star Benedict Cumberbatch, it might end up making NWH look basic by comparison.
While speaking on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, the Avengers: Infinity War star was a little less guarded than usual when talking about the upcoming film. Cumberbatch labelled the sequel as “bonkers”, much as he has done elsewhere, but this time he also called it “very busy” and voiced concerns over whether his mystical hero actually has a character arc in this one. Here’s the relevant exchange:
Benedict Cumberbatch: This is the second one of him on his own.
Marc Maron: So this is your movie.
Cumberbatch: Yeah, well, yeah that’s part of the problem. 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.
We obviously knew that Doctor Strange 2 was going to be an extremely ambitious and highly populated movie, perhaps on a level with the Avengers flicks, but it’s a little worrying to hear Cumberbatch describe it as “very busy”, which indicates a lack of focus and a baggy plot. Likewise, it’s concerning that the actor isn’t sure the film is rooted in Strange himself and his journey.
But, before we get too worked up about this, we should probably remember that DS2 is currently undergoing reshoots. The movie is still coming together, then, so obviously Cumberbatch might be unclear on how it’s all going to coalesce. Much as the cast of Infinity War and Endgame felt, and those two examples turned out more than OK. Director Sam Raimi has a lot on his plate, but hopefully, he’ll be able to create something very special out of it.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is due out on May 6, 2022.
