Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have become so accustomed to crossovers and surprise cameos that a lot of folks were disappointed that the WandaVision finale didn’t feature a major name from the franchise showing up for a guest appearance. Part of that disappointment was down to Paul Bettany repeatedly teasing a huge actor he’d never worked with before, which turned out to be himself.
Over the course of the nine episodes, the show more than proved that it didn’t have to rope in big stars to succeed in telling its story, and the only resolved plot thread that could be deemed a disappointment was the reveal that Evan Peters ultimately wasn’t the same Quicksilver from Fox’s X-Men universe, but rather a jobbing actor with no significance who was used entirely for a boner joke.
Besides that, WandaVision was an absolute triumph, with the second post-credits scene making it clear that Scarlet Witch’s mastery of the Darkhold is set to cause some major problems for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange in his upcoming sequel. Of course, the Sorcerer Supreme was heavily rumored for a cameo just a few weeks back, and insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that it was indeed filmed, but left on the cutting room floor at the last minute.
WandaVision originally shot between November 2019 and March 2020 in Atlanta, when Cumberbatch was filming drama The Power of the Dog in New Zealand. Reshoots then took place between September and November just before the actor returned Stateside, but WandaVision‘s pickups happened in Los Angeles, while Cumberbatch ironically pitched up in Atlanta for Spider-Man: No Way Home, just as Olsen headed to England to begin work on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The criss-crossing travel schedules, not to mention the COVID-19 health and safety protocols, would have no doubt made it a logistical nightmare for Marvel to shoot a Doctor Strange cameo, so it’s a bit surprising to hear that they had one filmed but didn’t end up using it. However, with WandaVision now over, maybe we’ll find out the real reason why it was dropped sooner rather than later.
