Marvel Studios and Disney released a new trailer for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” during the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The sequel is the next story in the overarching Marvel Cinematic Universe, and picks up a number of loose threads. As a Doctor Strange sequel, it brings back Benedict Cumberbatch and the co-stars from his 2016 standalone film Rachel McAdams (as surgeon Christine Palmer), Chiwetel Ejiofor (as former Mystic Arts Master Karl Mordo) and Benedict Wong (as Sorcerer Supreme). But as an MCU follow-up, the story finds Strange intercepting Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch, who was last seen having an emotional breakdown on the Disney+ series “WandaVision” and who has now fully tapped into her witchy powers.
As the title suggests, the film further expands into the multiverse that was first opened in the Disney+ series “Loki” and then explored in December’s box office juggernaut “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (which also co-starred Cumberbatch’s Strange). To that end, we see there’s a darker version of Doctor Strange to contend with (who was first seen in the Disney+ animated series “What If?” — confused yet?), and some hidden council with what look to be Ultron-like sentinels that lure Doctor Strange in.
Scott Derrickson was originally due to return and direct this sequel, but ultimately departed over creative differences. That’s when Sam Raimi – who helped kick off this era of the superhero genre in the first place with his 2002 film “Spider-Man” – was hired to take over as director, and he reunites with his “Spider-Man” composer Danny Elfman on the sequel. Michael Waldron, the head writer of “Loki,” was also brought in to overhaul the screenplay.
The film was originally due to be released before “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” but swapped places with that sequel in the MCU order (which necessitated some script changes on the part of “Spider-Man”).
Watch the new trailer in the video above and check out a new poster below. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” also stars Michael Stuhlbarg and Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez and will be released in theaters on May 6, 2022.
Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Eric Hauserman Carroll and Jamie Christopher serve as executive producers.
The film kicks off Marvel Studios’ slate of new films coming in 2022, which also includes “Thor: Love and Thunder” in July and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forver” in November. On Disney+, the MCU story continues with “Moon Knight,” “She-Hulk,” “Ms. Marvel” and the limited series “Secret Invasion.”
