With the blessing of Kevin Feige, Scott Derrickson teasing a return to the helm, and Benedict Cumberbatch reportedly in for a significant pay increase, Doctor Strange 2 is all but official at this point.
For those of you who don’t know, yesterday, Mirror ran an exclusive pertaining to Cumberbatch and his impending payday. According to the article, the actor’s set to make £7.5 million for Doctor Strange 2 – approximately $9.5 million in USD – which would be an increase of roughly £5 million – or USD $6.4 million – from his pay packet for Doctor Strange.
Additionally, the British tabloid’s pegged the sequel to begin principal photography sometime next spring. While we await corroboration on this, which is expected to arrive in September – at least, according to Scott Derrickson – should the tentative start date hold true, it would effectively push the fifth season of Sherlock to 2020, if it happens at all.
Regardless, given that Doctor Strange was in production for nearly half a year – November 4th, 2015 to April 3rd, 2016 – and premiered a year to the day stateside (November 4th, 2016), it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see the sequel follow suit. So, for the sake of argument, let’s assume it does, in fact, start shooting next spring. Half a year for principal photography would take us to around September, then another six months for post and polishing, and Doctor Strange 2 could be looking at a blockbuster season release in 2020.
I mean, as far as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is concerned, post-Phase Three, there isn’t a whole heck of a lot going on, aside from Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 5th, 2019) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2020). And taking into consideration the direction of the latter, or lack thereof, it’s probably safe to assume that the irreverent supergroup has been put on ice, at least for the time being.
Therefore, spring/summer 2020 would fit the mold for Doctor Strange 2. After all, Marvel and Disney have grown quite accustomed to the release window – just take a look at Avengers: Infinity War (April 27th, 2018) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6th, 2018). Of course, this is all just guesswork for now, but as soon as we have some kind of confirmation, we’ll be sure to let you know.