Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Doctor Strange. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is intended to be the sequel to "Doctor Strange" (2016) and the 28th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Sam Raimi, written by Michael Waldron, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, alongside Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Rachel McAdams. In the film, Strange and his allies  travel into the multiverse to face a mysterious new adversary. "Doctor Strange" director and co-writer Scott Derrickson had plans for a sequel by October 2016. He signed to return as director in December 2018, when Cumberbatch was confirmed to return. The film's title was announced in July 2019 along with Olsen's involvement, while Jade Halley Bartlett was hired to write the film that October. Derrickson stepped down as director in January 2020, citing creative differences, with Waldron and Raimi joining the next month and starting over. Filming began in November 2020 in London but was put on  hold in January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed by March 2021 and concluded in mid-April in Somerset. Shooting also occurred in Surrey and Los Angeles. "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is scheduled to premiere in Hollywood on May 2, 2022, and will be released in the United States on May 6, as part of of the MCU. Premise. A few months after the events of "" (2021), Dr. Stephen Strange, with the help of both old and new mystical allies, travels into the multiverse to face a mysterious new adversary. Cast. Patrick Stewart, who portrayed  the older Charles Xavier / Professor X in 20th Century Fox's "X-Men" film series, appears in the film in an undisclosed role. Topo Wresniwiro and Mark Anthony Brighton reprise their respective roles as Hamir and Daniel Drumm, both Masters of the Mystic Arts, from the first film. Julian Hilliard and Jett Klyne reprise their respective roles from "WandaVision" as Maximoff's sons Billy and Tommy. Also appearing in the film are the character Peggy Carter / Captain Carter, who was voiced by Hayley Atwell in "What If...?"; the creature Gargantos, designed after Shuma-Gorath; Rintrah, a minotaur-esque being from  R'Vaal who is a student at Kamar-Taj; and the cosmic entity the Living Tribunal. The group the Illuminati also appears in the film. Production. Development. "Doctor Strange" (2016) co-writer C. Robert Cargill stated in April 2016 that Marvel Studios felt some initial ideas for the film from him and director Scott Derrickson highlighted too much of the "weird stuff" associated with the comic book character Doctor Strange to feature in an origin story, but told the duo to hold onto them for potential future films. Derrickson revealed in October that he had plans for a sequel, expressing his  love for the character and the visual possibilities that come with him. Derrickson said the first film was "the tip of an iceberg. There's so much progress that can be made." He wanted to follow the example of "The Dark Knight" (2008) and introduce a villain in the sequel that would allow them to "go deep [and have] a more visceral experience". Star Benedict Cumberbatch had signed on for at least one more Doctor Strange film. Derrickson expressed interest in featuring the villain Nightmare, and further exploring the characters Jonathan Pangborn and Hamir after their small roles in the  first film. He also explained that he was "kept in the loop" on how the "Avengers" films were using the character due to his close relationships with Joe Russo—the co-director of "" (2018) and "" (2019)—and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. "Doctor Strange" co-writer Jon Spaihts expressed interest in seeing the character Clea appear in a sequel. In April 2017, Derrickson was reported to be returning for a sequel, beginning work after fulfilling his commitments to the television series "Locke & Key". By December 2018, Derrickson had quietly finalized a deal to direct the sequel, with Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, and  Rachel McAdams reprising their respective roles of Dr. Stephen Strange, Wong, and Christine Palmer. Marvel was beginning to search for a writer, with "The Hollywood Reporter" stating that the script would be written throughout 2019 for a planned filming start in early 2020 and a potential release in May 2021. Feige and Derrickson officially announced the sequel at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019, revealing the title to be "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and confirming a release date of May 7, 2021. Derrickson said he wanted the sequel to be the first scary Marvel Cinematic Universe  (MCU) film and explore more of the gothic and horror elements from the comic books than the first installment did. Feige revealed that the Disney+ series "WandaVision" (2021) would directly set up the film, with that series' star Elizabeth Olsen reprising her role of Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch in the film. "Multiverse of Madness" is set a few months after the film "" (2021), in which Cumberbatch stars as Strange, as well as being set after the first season of the series "Loki" (2021), which sets up the events of the film in its season finale, "For All Time. Always." After  that episode was released, Tom Hiddleston was reported to be reprising his role as Loki in "Multiverse of Madness". Pre-production. Jade Halley Bartlett, an "up-and-coming screenwriter", was hired to write the sequel's screenplay in October 2019. In December, Feige described the multiverse as "the next step in the evolution of the MCU", and said this film would "crack it wide open" in a way that would have repercussions for the Disney+ series and the next films in Marvel Studios' slate. Later in the month, he clarified that the sequel would not be a horror film, as  some reports had described it following the Comic-Con announcement, but it would be a "big MCU film with scary sequences". Feige compared these sequences to the films "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984), "Gremlins" (1984), and "Poltergeist" (1982), and said Derrickson was good at being "legitimately scary" due to his background making horror films. Feige also revealed that the film would introduce several surprising new characters to the MCU, including one that Marvel Studios had been looking for a way to use in an MCU film for some time. In January  2020, Marvel Studios and Derrickson announced that he would no longer direct the film due to creative differences. In separate statements, they both said they were thankful for their collaboration so far and Derrickson would remain an executive producer on the film. This was not expected to delay filming, which was set for May 2020. Cargill explained that he and Derrickson conceived a story that went in a different direction from what Marvel wanted, and the pair had not yet written a draft of the screenplay so the final film would not be derivative of their work. Derrickson said leaving  the film was a difficult decision, but he did not want to compromise on a film that was different from what he wanted to make. His choice to leave was made easier by the fact that he was able to immediately begin work on "The Black Phone" (2022), another film he wanted to make. Feige echoed Cargill's explanation when he stated that though Marvel Studios and Derrickson did not agree on the creative direction of the film, their differences were not because Derrickson's take would have been a "no-holds-barred weird, gnarly, scary movie" similar to A24 's films "The Witch" (2015) or "Hereditary" (2018) as had been reported. Feige said the studio loved that idea, and their intention with the film was for Strange to serve as a guide into a "much creepier side" of the MCU even after Derrickson's departure, and for the film to explore the "mind-bending frightening side" of the multiverse. Cumberbatch was not consulted regarding the director change and said he was sad to hear about it, but he respected the decision and how it was handled. Sam Raimi entered negotiations to take over as director by early February, after  being notified about the position, and was eager to pursue it. At that time, Chiwetel Ejiofor was expected to reprise his role as Karl Mordo, McAdams was no longer expected to appear, and "Loki" head writer Michael Waldron was hired to rewrite the film's script. Raimi signed on to the film a few weeks later. Raimi was reluctant to direct another Marvel superhero film after the mixed critical reaction to "Spider-Man 3" (2007), feeling he needed a break from that genre, but accepted the job for the challenge of getting the film into production "right away" and because  he is a fan of the Doctor Strange character and Derrickson's work on the first film. Raimi was curious how making big-budgeted films changed since his prior film "Oz the Great and Powerful" (2013), and had to familiarize himself with the MCU storylines and characters for the film. Waldron opted to conceive the script with Raimi from scratch instead of using the horror-influenced foundation that Derrickson had developed with Bartlett, and Waldron watched Raimi's "Spider-Man" films so he could "identify his strengths" and what he excels at and write toward them. Marvel Studios production and  development manager Richie Palmer said Waldron's work on "Loki", in which he explored the multiverse and introduced the concept of variant characters, allowed Marvel Studios to "jump into telling a good story" without having to re-explain those ideas for the audience. Palmer also said Waldron was able to bring "a lot of heart to [the] sci-fi concepts" and carried over that approach from "Loki" to the film. Raimi noted that after "No Way Home" saw characters from other universes enter the MCU, "Multiverse of Madness" would highlight characters from the MCU entering the multiverse and exploring different  universes, seeing how similar or not they were to the MCU. Waldron ensured the film was personal as they expanded the scope and the stakes with the multiverse, which he noted gave the opportunity to have the characters confront "what ifs" and alternate versions of themselves and other characters to mirror them. He said the multiverse shaped the "emotional heart" of the film's story, explaining that it was being used to explore the characters' right or wrong choices between their alternate versions in thrilling and emotionally complex ways, rather than using the multiverse as a MacGuffin for the film . Waldron watched "Doctor Strange" several times, saying he became a "student" of that film, to understand Strange's story and how the character developed in the first film and through his other MCU appearances until "No Way Home". Raimi also praised Waldron's work on the script, and felt he contributed a lot to the script, due to his "absolute awareness of Marvel history" and "incredible imagination", and noted that his script focused on the character interactions that "show them for who they are and what their problems are". He also added that "[Michael] loves that Doctor Strange is a  little bit of an egotist and has a problem with insecurity". Raimi said Strange begins in "Multiverse of Madness" as a potentially too "very self-assured" person who believes he is the one "best in control of all the decisions" and that he "has the most faith in himself" with "not so much" faith in others. He said Strange "learns to let go a little bit" in this film, and that "it's not all about him" and that "he can trust others". Waldron also noted Strange's growth as a character throughout the MCU, and said "he's kind  of at the height of his powers" in the film. Script supervisor Joe Beckett said it would be dark, Wong called the script "cracking", and Waldron described "Multiverse of Madness" as Raimi's return to "big superhero movies" with every aspect of a Sam Raimi film. Waldron worked closely with Olsen and "WandaVision" head writer Jac Schaeffer to continue Maximoff's story in the film and ensure it was a satisfying continuation of the series, while Raimi also studied the series to make sure the film maintained "a proper through line and character-growth dynamic" for her character. After a  planned appearance by Cumberbatch in "WandaVision" was removed late in the development of the series, rewrites to the "Multiverse of Madness" script were required which Feige described as a "wonderful combination of very dedicated coordination, and chaos". These changes include how Strange and Maximoff meet in the film. The story of "Multiverse of Madness" is still set up by "WandaVision", but the film was developed to also work for viewers who did not watch the series. The creative team also saw early production work for the animated series "What If...?" to learn how Strange was portrayed in that series. For  consistency with the "Darkhold" book, which is first seen in "WandaVision" but has more screen time in "Multiverse of Madness", the film's props department designed the prop for the series to use and then reused that same prop for the film. In late March, pre-production work was taking place remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with filming still on track to begin in May 2020. At the start of April, Disney shifted much of their Phase Four slate of films due to the pandemic, moving "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" release date to November 5, 2021 . It was shifted again to March 25, 2022, after Sony Pictures rescheduled "Spider-Man: No Way Home" to the November 2021 date. Ejiofor confirmed his involvement in late June 2020, by which time production on the film had been delayed by the pandemic. In early October, Cumberbatch confirmed that pre-production work had continued and revealed that filming would start in London, England by the end of the month or in early November. Later in October, Xochitl Gomez joined the cast. Although a national lockdown in England was announced from November 5 to December 2 , film shoots were not impacted . The pandemic delays gave Waldron and Raimi more time to develop the film as their own and push it in a "slightly scarier direction", with Waldron feeling that Raimi had a strong track record making scarier films. Filming. Principal photography began in November 2020 in London, under the working title "Stellar Vortex", with John Mathieson serving as cinematographer. Mathieson shot the film with Panavision DXL2 IMAX-certified cameras. Filming was delayed from an initial May 2020 start date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Olsen began filming her scenes by November 25, shooting back-to-back with "WandaVision", and found it  odd to transition from the series back to starring in an MCU film. At the beginning of December, filming was taking place at Longcross Studios in Longcross, Surrey. McAdams soon signed on to return as Palmer, shortly before Feige officially confirmed her involvement on December 10 along with that of Ejiofor, Wong, and Gomez. He also revealed that Gomez would portray America Chavez. Palmer said Marvel Studios had been trying to incorporate the character into the MCU for a long time, including early plans to include her in "Spider-Man: No Way Home", and they knew that "Multiverse of Madness  would be a good place to introduce her since her powers are related to the multiverse. Chavez's co-creator Joe Casey was not paid for the character's appearance in the film after he rejected a compensation offer from Marvel Comics that he described as a pittance". Cumberbatch had begun filming his scenes by then, after completing his work on "No Way Home". Olsen shot for three weeks before increased restrictions near the end of December and another lockdown in England was announced from January 6, 2021. She said filming had been put on hold due to the surge  of COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom. Filming resumed by mid-March when Cumberbatch said they were in the middle of production, and Ejiofor began filming his scenes in London by then. Filming occurred at Broomfield Hill Car Park in Richmond Park for the week of March 25. Shooting took place at Freemasons Church in Central London for a few weeks in April. On April 15, Feige said they were in the final week of filming, with shooting taking place from that day until April 17 at Burrow Hill Cider Farm in Somerset. Jett Klyne and Julian Hilliard, who respectively  portrayed Maximoff's sons Tommy and Billy in "WandaVision", were reportedly on set at the farm, and confirmed to be appearing in April 2022. The production did not suffer any COVID-19-related setbacks when filming resumed in early 2021, though Cumberbatch had to pause filming temporarily after being in close contact with a member of the production who had a false positive test. Many of the actors, including Olsen, Cumberbatch, and Wong, were excited to be working with Raimi. The director was able to use his preferred camera techniques on the film, such as using the camera and perspective to  create a feeling of anxiety for audiences, and encouraged improvisation. Raimi said many "dimensionalized visuals" were used during shooting to tell the film's story. Cumberbatch said the film was more collaborative than his previous MCU appearances, for which he felt like he was "just along for the ride". Olsen added that they were going for a "horror show vibe", describing the film as "bonkers", and comparing it to Raimi's "Evil Dead" films with aspects of the horror genre such as "constant fear". She felt it was "more than a glossy "Indiana Jones" movie" and would be darker than  those films, adding that Raimi was trying to make "the scariest Marvel movie", and "creating as much tension for the audience". Cumberbatch said the ending was "up in the air" when filming began, and that it took some time for the team to decide on the ending, which would tie "together everyone's journeys through this film". Post-production. Bob Murawski and Tia Nolan serve as editors of the film. Some additional photography for the film had been completed by mid-September 2021, with Olsen and Wong completing their work. In October, the film was once again delayed to May  6, 2022. Later that month, Cumberbatch said they were in the middle of additional photography, with further reshoots set for November and December, over at least six weeks in Los Angeles. "The Hollywood Reporter" said the additional photography and reshoots were "significant", including two weeks dedicated to principal photography that could not be completed previously because of actor availability issues, with additional material being filmed because of the COVID-related slowdowns during the initial shoot. Cumberbatch confirmed the reshoots were being used to make adjustments to already shot material, while also filming parts that "were just impossible to do [during  principal photography] because of logistics, COVID etc." "The Hollywood Reporter" later reported that the reshoots would allow the film to have "more fun with the multiverse" by adding more cameo appearances and variants of established characters, similar to "No Way Home" and the first season of "Loki". The film's teaser trailer was released in late December and confirmed the involvement of Michael Stuhlbarg as Nicodemus West, reprising his role from "Doctor Strange", and that Cumberbatch would portray multiple versions of Strange in the film. The reshoots wrapped during the week of December 13, but additional filming continued in early  January 2022. The latter was completed on January 8. By the end of the month, Raimi had assembled a cut of the film that would be presented to test audiences, and said there was potential for more reshoots to occur if the test screenings found that clarification or improvement was needed. Patrick Stewart, who portrayed Charles Xavier / Professor X in the "X-Men" film series, was revealed to be appearing in the film in an undisclosed role with the film's trailer in February 2022; Stewart was believed to be reprising the role of Xavier, which had previously been the  subject of speculation. A poster for the film, released at the same time, additionally teased the inclusion of Captain Carter, a character who was introduced in "What If...?". Stewart confirmed shortly after that he appears in the film, after previously denying the voice heard in the trailer was his. Palmer stated that though audiences "may have heard something familiar doesn't mean it's someone you have seen before". The trailer also revealed that Hamir would appear in the film, with Topo Wresniwiro confirmed to reprise the role from "Doctor Strange" alongside Mark Anthony Brighton as Daniel Drumm. A creature  resembling prominent Doctor Strange villain Shuma-Gorath appears in the film, but it is given the name Gargantos, which comes from a different comic book character, because the rights to the name Shuma-Gorath belong to Heroic Signatures. Palmer cautioned against assumptions based on the trailer that the Illuminati—a secret society from the comics that Xavier is involved with—would be appearing in the film, and noted that if Marvel Studios were to introduce the group they would be a "more MCU-driven" version rather than a direct adaptation of the comic book line-up; the Illuminati was confirmed  to be appearing in the film in March. Cumberbatch was working on further reshoots in the United Kingdom by March 13. Music. "Doctor Strange" composer Michael Giacchino was set to return for the sequel by October 2019, when Derrickson was set as director. After Raimi took over, Danny Elfman was hired as composer; Elfman previously worked with Raimi on "Darkman" (1990), "A Simple Plan" (1998), "Spider-Man" (2002), "Spider-Man 2" (2004), and "Oz the Great and Powerful". Elfman said he would refer to Giacchino's "Doctor Strange" theme in a similar way to how he used Alan Silvestri's  theme from "The Avengers" (2012) when working on "" (2015). By February 2021, Elfman had begun working on music to be used during filming, but would not begin work on the actual score for the sequel for several months. In January 2022, Elfman revealed that he was working on completing the score, which included conducting an orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, with his frequent collaborator Steve Bartek remotely over Zoom. The full album will be released on May 4. Marketing. A teaser trailer for the film was played after the end credits of "Spider-Man: No Way Home", before  being released online on December 22, 2021. Matt Webb Mitovich of "TVLine" called it a "rousing, thrilling trailer" and noted the ending that revealed an alternate version of Strange. He believed this was Doctor Strange Supreme, a variant of the character introduced in "What If...?". "Inverse" Alex Welch felt it was a "suitably psychedelic teaser, full of revelations and fun moments that should leave Marvel fans gobsmacked", and suggested the film would tie together "many of the multiversal threads left hanging" from "No Way Home", "WandaVision", and the first seasons of "Loki" and "What If...?". Writing for "Decider", Alex Zalben  believed the film was a "direct result" of "What If...?", which "instantly mak[es] the animated series far more important than Marvel fans might have originally realized". James Grebey at "Syfy Wire" said there was "a very ominous aura to the whole trailer". Also in December, merchandise began to be made available with the reveal of Marvel Legends figures based on the film. A teaser aired during Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022, with the full length trailer then debuting online. Justin Carter at "Gizmodo" highlighted how the trailer continued the first film's "visually trippy" approach to alternate dimensions  while adding more horror elements, and was also excited by the brief appearance of America Chavez, while his colleague Germain Lussier felt, compared to the teaser, the trailer "raised the stakes exponentially with all manner of wild revelations and images". "The Verge" Charles Pulliam-Moore said the trailer did a better job conveying the film's plot than the teaser, and he felt the film would be the "culmination of the big-picture troubles" teased in "WandaVision" and "Loki". Many commentators noted the revelation of Patrick Stewart's involvement in the trailer and the implication he could reprise his "X -Men" role of Charles Xavier / Professor X, which led to speculation that "Multiverse of Madness" would introduce the MCU version of the Illuminati. RelishMix reported that the trailer had 93.12 million views in 24 hours across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, which was the top trailer among those airing during the Super Bowl according to their metrics. Disney reported 143 million online views across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Google searches, and 55 million broadcast views. Funko Pops based on the film were revealed in March 2022. In April, Procter & Gamble released a commercial promoting the film and  Tide laundry detergent featuring Wong and the Cloak of Levitation. Later that month, Disney showcased the opening sequence of the film at CinemaCon. Three episodes of the series "" were released on April 29, exploring Doctor Strange, Wong, and Scarlet Witch using footage from their previous MCU appearances. Eight VTubers from Hololive Production will promote the film in a special pre-premiere stream event on YouTube on May 3. Release. "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is scheduled to hold its world premiere in Hollywood on May 2, 2022, and will be released in the United States on May 6 , 2022, in 4DX, RealD 3D, IMAX, Dolby Cinema, ScreenX, and Superscreen. It was originally set for release on May 7, 2021, but was pushed back to November 5, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before it was further shifted to March 25, 2022, after Sony rescheduled "Spider-Man: No Way Home" to November 2021. In October 2021, it was shifted once more to its current May 2022 date. The film will be part of Phase Four of the MCU. In April 2022, "The Hollywood Reporter" confirmed that the film would not be released in Saudi Arabia due to the inclusion  of America Chavez, a gay character. Nawaf Alsabhan, Saudi Arabia's general supervisor of cinema classification, said the film had not been banned from the country but revealed that Disney was "not willing" to grant their request of cutting "barely 12 seconds" of a scene in which Chavez refers to her "two moms". The film had been set to release in several Persian Gulf countries on May 5, before advanced tickets were removed from cinema websites in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar. Tickets were still available in the United Arab Emirates, which "The Hollywood Reporter" stated was an indication that  the film could still be released there. IMAX Corporation also confirmed that the film would not be released in Egypt. Cumberbatch was disappointed in the countries' decisions to not release the film, saying: "We've come to know from those repressive regimes that their lack of tolerance is exclusionary to people who deserve to be not only included, but celebrated for who they are and made to feel part of a society and a culture and not punished for their sexuality. It feels truly out of step with everything that we've experienced as a species, let alone where we 're at globally more as a culture, but frankly, it's just even more reason why this isn't tokenism to include an LGBTQ+ community member". "Deadline Hollywood" also reported that the film was unlikely to release in China after the lettering for "The Epoch Times", a newspaper that opposes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was noticed in some footage. The film had been submitted for review by Chinese officials by that time. Box office projections. The film had the most ticket presales through Fandango since "Spider-Man: No Way Home". In April 2022, "Boxoffice Pro" projected the film could  earn between $190–210 million in the United States and Canada on its opening weekend, with a total domestic gross of $450–560 million.