This story contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Has your No Way Home high worn off yet? Maybe. If it has, you might be ready to discuss the next event blockbuster from the one and only Marvel Studios: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the sequel to 2016's Doctor Strange. Directed by Sam Raimi—making his grand Marvel return after helming Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man trilogy—the sequel promises to loop WandaVision's Wanda Maximoff into a multiversal adventure, as well as introduce Xochitl Gomez's America Chavez.
Thanks to the Super Bowl, we know about twice as much about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as we did before the event. Marvel dropped a two-minute-long trailer featuring cameos usually reserved for theaters. (Hello, Professor X!) Naturally, fans are running wild with theories and screenshots from the trailer, even thinking that we just got our first look at the long-rumored appearance of Tom Cruise as Superior Iron Man. If Marvel's superb track record is any indication, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be another No Way Home-level hit.
Here's everything we know about the film so far.
When Will the Film Release?
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will hit theaters on May 6, 2022. Since every Marvel outing needs a syllabus of recommended viewing nowadays, the two must-watch-in-advances—WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home—are out now.
Which Variant Heroes (and Villains) Did the Super Bowl Trailer Tease?
The Super Bowl trailer actually told us quite a bit about the plot of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Looks like Strange's tampering with the multiverse in Now Way Home will have some serious repercussions. As in, so serious that a high council of multiverse defenders (potentially the Illuminati, from the comic books) will imprison him. One of the members? Patrick Stewart's Professor X. We can't confirm the character's return to the big screen, but it's hard to think the voice in the trailer is anyone other than Stewart.
The rest of the trailer is a pleasing jumble of multiverse cameos, teases, and shenanigans: the potential live-action debut of Marvel zombies, more action from America Chavez, and Wanda Maximoff returning to her old WandaVision digs. But we have to cover a certain Captain Marvel-looking glow in the preview. By the looks of it, we'll see a Captain Marvel variant in Multiverse of Madness, whom you can glimpse below. Watch out, Wanda!
Last up, another sign pointing to the cameo fans have long been waiting for: Tom Cruise as Superior Iron Man, the villainous Tony Stark variant. Combine Doctor Strange's imprisonment via a gaggle of Ultron-looking guards, and a goateed (?!) glowing hero, and that's more than enough to keep the fans fed until May. Does this look like Mr. Cruise to you? We'll let you decide:
What Did Spider-Man: No Way Home Tell Us About What Strange is up to?
Well, if you've seen No Way Home, you already know that Strange spends about two hours of the movie fussing around dimensions, fighting Spider-Man, and trying (read: mostly failing) to reverse the spell that went wrong. But there are a couple Strange-related reveals worth mentioning.
Mainly: Dr. Strange is no longer the Sorcerer Supreme. Apparently, after Thanos dusted him along with half of existence, he lost the title to Wong on a "technicality." Speaking of Wong, there seems to be some domestic trouble in the Sanctum Sanctorum? Wong and Doctor Strange don't seem too happy with each other during their brief interaction in No Way Home, where Wong seems extremely busy doing... something? We'll most likely see what's going on between the two sorcerers at the top of Multiverse of Madness.
What Did We Learn From Multiverse of Madness's First Trailer?
Not even a minute into our first look at Multiverse of Madness, we get the reunion we've wanted ever since WandaVision's finale: Doctor Strange heads to Wanda's Folklore-esque hangout in the woods to recruit her for the next adventure. Wanda, for one, seems relieved that he's not particularly concerned that she brainwashed and tortured an entire town during the events of WandaVision.
Then, we get our SportsCenter highlight reel of superhero action. We see Chiwetel Ejiofor's Baron Mordo return to warn Doctor Strange of all the shit he's about to get into. The one-eyed monster Shuma-Gorath throws a car at Strange. Yikes. At the end of the preview, we get the big reveal when Mordo tells Strange, “I hope you understand. The greatest threat to our universe… is you.” Then, we see (what's likely) What... If's villainous variant of Strange opposite the mainline Strange, quipping that "things just got out of hand."
Looks like Benedict Cumberbatch will really get to flex his acting muscles in this one.
