A sequel to Doctor Strange was announced at the San Diego Comic-Con last weekend and we now know that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released on May 7th, 2021. Obviously, fans are pretty hyped for it, too. Not just because the snarky, powerful superhero portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch has become a firm favorite, but because his next movie may very well be the most important entry in the MCU yet.
The main reason for its importance is the fact that it’ll at long last introduce the MCU to the larger multiverse. The concept of a multiverse has been teased in earlier Marvel films, of course, but this will be the first to definitely establish that the earth we’ve seen in past movies is actually just one among many that exist in different dimensions, each with its own set of heroes and villains who will now be free to make appearances in future outings.
Despite Marvel’s success at the box office, they’ve had their hands tied behind their backs so far, in terms of the fact that until very recently, a lot of their most popular characters belonged to Fox. With Disney’s recent acquisition of the aforementioned studio though, Marvel at long last has access to characters that fans have been dying to see in the MCU for a long time now, like the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Deadpool and Silver Surfer.
The establishment of the multiverse is the first step to creating a new, improved version of the MCU which can have new heroes and villains popping in from other dimensions without causing continuity errors or leaving the fans wondering where those heroes had been when Thanos was laying waste to the world.
If that wasn’t exciting enough, Kevin Feige has also hinted at a new love interest for the Sorcerer Supreme, while also confirming that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will belong to the horror genre. In other words, be prepared to meet some potentially disturbing versions of the present MCU characters from other dimensions when the movie finally arrives in theaters in 2021.
