Overview
When a franchise has spent more than a decade intertwining 20-plus films and multiple TV shows, watching along often becomes a game of 'spot the other superheroes'. Yes, we're talking about the never-ending, always-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, which loves popping as many caped crusaders as it can into its flicks and shows — and serving up surprises, too, beyond the usually sizeable list of main spandex-wearing players that any of its movies or series have already announced.
The next film set to do just that: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the 28th big-screen chapter in the MCU, the followup to huge 2021 hit Spider-Man: No Way Home and the direct sequel to 2016's Doctor Strange. It first dropped a trailer last December, back when No Way Home arrived. In fact, that trailer was tacked onto the end of the Spidey flick if you sat through it till the very end of the credits. But now Marvel has released a second sneak peek at Doctor Strange's next adventures — Super Bowl day is always a big trailer day in the US, which is why it's dropping now — and it comes with quite the tease.
Already, fans knew that The Power of the Dog Oscar-nominee Benedict Cumberbatch is popping his Doctor Strange cloak back on, as he did in No Way Home. We were also already that this new dive into the mystic arts would include a post-WandaVision Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) — plus Benedict Wong (Nine Days) as Wong, Rachel McAdams (Game Night) as Strange's ex Dr Christine Palmer and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Locked Down) as fellow Master of the Mystic Arts Mordo, too. The new trailer seems to add to the film's cast in a huge way, however, which is exceptional news for anyone that's loved movies based on Marvel comics since other superhero teams were doing big things in the early 2000s pre-Iron Man.
The surprise is best discovered by watching, could signal the arrival of a whole heap of other familiar characters into the MCU, and arrives in a trailer that sees Doctor Strange forced to face the consequences of breaking the rules for Peter Parker. Indeed, Wanda points out that the repercussions for his actions appear to have been rather different than the fallout for hers post-WandaVision, and she's really not thrilled about it.
Expect Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to serve up will trippy Inception-style imagery, Strange's brooding demeanour and Marvel's usual world-in-peril shenanigans as well, all in a flick that also boasts a nice piece of symmetry. The movie marks the MCU filmmaking debut of acclaimed Evil Dead franchise director Sam Raimi, the man who helmed the original three Spider-Man movies in the 00s, way back before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was even a glimmer in the comic book company's eye, and obviously long before Doctor Strange and Tom Holland's Spider-Man became pals.
Check out the latest Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer below:
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness releases in cinemas Down Under on May 5, 2022.
Images: Photos courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.