Fans are starting to fear the worst for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness after the production was shut down due to England’s tightening of COVID-19 restrictions, while Benedict Cumberbatch reportedly hasn’t even shown up to the set yet despite Sam Raimi’s Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster having started shooting at the beginning of November.
The leading man is wrapped up at the moment with Spider-Man 3 on the other side of the Atlantic, but Elizabeth Olsen has been on location since day one, with Wanda Maximoff set to play a major role in the story. The Sorcerer Supreme’s sequel was initially scheduled for release in May of this year before being pushed back to March 2022, and even if it arrives on time, the five and a half year gap comfortably makes it the longest that any of the MCU’s marquee heroes have had to wait between solo adventures.
Based on the information we have so far, it looks as though WandaVision, Spider-Man 3 and Multiverse of Madness will form a loosely-connected trilogy that all hinge on the very fabric of reality given the overlap between cast members. Plot specifics are still under wraps, of course, but we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us Rachel McAdams would be back long before it was confirmed – that the title character will see his powers upgraded in the film significantly to combat the potential threat posed by an unleashed Scarlet Witch.
Stephen Strange’s abilities have always been fairly vaguely defined as it is, and with Kevin Feige confirming Wanda as the most powerful figure in the MCU, not to mention the constant rumors that she might end up being the villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it would make sense to place them both on a relatively even playing field. How this will happen remains unclear, but we’re told that by the end of the movie, the title hero will be nearly as powerful as Scarlet Witch herself.
