Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: release date, trailer and more

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is shaping up to be the most mind-bending and fan service-y film in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). 

Given what went down in Spider-Man: No Way Home, that may sound like a bold statement to make. But, judging by the Marvel movie's latest trailer, we're confident in stating as much.

That's right, the next Marvel Phase 4 film to arrive in theaters is absolutely packed with callbacks to the MCU, Fox's X-Men universe, and Marvel comics. There's so much to take in from the new two-minute long teaser, in fact, that you may have struggled to work out what's actually going on. Our Doctor Strange 2 trailer breakdown article is necessary reading for anything you think you may have missed, then.

A new Doctor Strange 2 teaser isn't the only new information that's come to light about the superhero flick, though. There are numerous rumors floating around about a myriad of cameo appearances, confirmed character roles, and quotes from the movie's cast and crew about what we should expect from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

We cover all of that and more below. You'll find more information about Doctor Strange 2 from this point on, including its release date, trailers, confirmed cast, potential plot, and more. Possible spoilers follow for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while there's other spoilerific content from other MCU movies and TV shows. You have been warned.

DOCTOR STRANGE 2 RELEASE DATE

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released on May 6, 2022. It was supposed to arrive on March 25 but was delayed due to six weeks' worth of reshoots in late 2021 (per The Hollywood Reporter). Those reshoots have been completed, although director Sam Raimi has suggested that more improvements may be necessary if test screenings aren't received well.

“I wish I knew the answer to that question,” Raimi told Variety when asked if a final version was in the can. “I think we’re done, but we just cut everything. We’re just starting to test the picture and we’ll find out if there’s anything that’s got to be picked up. If something’s unclear or another improvement I can make in this short amount of time left, I’ll do it. One thing I know about the Marvel team is they won’t stop. They’ll keep pushing it until it’s as close to being great as it could.”

Meanwhile, Disney CEO Bob Chapek has revealed when Doctor Strange 2 may eventually land on Disney Plus. According to Decider's Alex Zalben, Chapek told a recent Disney earnings webcast that the second Doctor Strange film be released on the streaming platform this summer.

DOCTOR STRANGE 2 TRAILER

Released during Super Bowl LVI, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' official trailer revealed how surreal and mind-blowing it'll be when it lands in theaters.

Opening with a monologue from Stephen Strange, who is plagued by the same dream every night after the events of No Way Home, it isn't long before the teaser dives head-first into the film's weird and mind-blogging elements.

We learn that there'll be even more variants of Doctor Strange present in the movie, Wanda/Scarlet Witch will be the film's main villain, and that the Multiverse of Madness will bring elements of Fox's X-Men universe and What If...?, Marvel's animated anthology TV show, into the MCU.

We already knew that What If...? would play a role due to Evil Doctor Strange's appearance in the first teaser. And, while there were rumors that Professor X and other X-Men would feature in some guise, the trailer confirms that Patrick Stewart's X-Men leader will be part of its ensemble cast.

There are plenty of other surprises and Easter eggs within the two-minute trailer, so check our trailer breakdown article (linked in this hub's introduction) if you want more information on what's shown off. Even so, this is only the tip of the iceberg of what Doctor Strange 2 will contain. So we expect lots of other cameos, nods to Marvel's comic book material, and more when the film launches in theaters.

Meanwhile, the movie's first teaser was released in late December. You can check that out below if you haven't seen it yet:

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness cast: who is playing who? 

Spoilers for Doctor Strange, Loki, WandaVision, and What If following. Potential spoilers for Doctor Strange 2 are also speculated on.

There are seven confirmed cast members so far, with another all-but-confirmed (just not officially by Marvel) based on the latest trailer:

Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange/Sinister Strange/Defender Strange/Zombie Strange

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Karl Mordo/Master Mordo

Benedict Wong as Wong

Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer

Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez

Michael Stuhlbarg as Nicodemus West

Patrick Stewart as Professor X

Benedict Cumberbatch will reprise his role as Doctor Stephen Strange from the superhero's first solo movie, as well as appearances in other MCU films. However, he'll also be playing three variants of Strange. Those incarnations include Sinister Strange, according to Marvel.com, who may or may not be the same one we saw in What If...?. We also learn about two more variants called Defender Strange and Zombie Strange, but we'll talk about these in more detail in our plot section below.

Elizabeth Olsen co-stars as Wanda/Scarlet Witch and, as speculated by some fans, she'll be the main villain of the film. Judging by the official trailer, we'll see a few variants of Wanda, too, including Zombie Scarlet Witch.

Rachel McAdams, who returns as Strange's ex-girlfriend Christine Palmer, hasn't been seen since the first Doctor Strange film, although she appeared throughout episode four of What If...?. Benedict Wong, meanwhile, returns as namesake Wong following his cameos in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Shang-Chi. According to SlashFilm, Michael Stulhbarg is also returning as Nicodemus West, a surgeon who was one of Strange's rivals in 2016's Doctor Strange. We suspect he'll only have a bit-part role in proceedings.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is back as the villainous Mordo, who was last seen in Doctor Strange’s post-credits scene. Mordo was hunting other sorcerers and magic users to remove their powers if he deemed them unworthy, but there’s no word on his role here. It's possible that the MCU's version – i.e. Baron Mordo – will still appear, but we believe that the long-haired individual that we've seen in the trailers is a variant. According to some official promo art, he's known as Master Mordo.

The only announced newcomer so far is Xochitl Gomez (The Baby-Sitter Club) as America Chavez, who also goes by the pseudonym, Miss America.

In the comics, Chavez hails from the Utopian Parallel, a dimension that exists out of space and time. When the Utopian Parallel is threatened by black holes, Chavez's mothers Amalia and Elena sacrifice themselves to save Chavez. The sole survivor of her race, Chavez uses her abilities to open an interdimensional portal to find a new home – leading her to Earth.

Based on the official trailer, Chavez's backstory will be altered slightly for Doctor Strange 2. We see her being held against her will by a giant, mummy-Esque monster (presumably in the Utopian Parallel), which seems to activate Chavez's powers. You can see a star-shaped portal open behind her – one of Chavez's major comic book abilities – so we suspect she'll free herself (or be saved, but more on that later) and end up traveling to the MCU where she'll meet Doctor Strange.

Incidentally, Chavez was originally supposed to make her live-action debut in No Way Home, with official concept art depicting as much. Regardless, it'll be cool to see one of Marvel's more recent (and popular) heroes finally enter the MCU.

Finally, Patrick Stewart is returning as Professor X. We know he'll appear in the film as we hear him speaking to Cumberbatch's Strange around the 1:15 mark in the second trailer. Marvel hasn't confirmed his involvement yet, but the trailer has already verified this.

As for other supporting cast members, two individuals who could appear are Wanda’s twin boys Billy (Jett Klyne) and Tommy (Julian Hilliard). The duo was last heard calling out for their mother in WandaVision’s post-credits scene, but will they be part of Doctor Strange 2's cast?

According to UK newspaper Somerset Live, Klyne and Hilliard were spotted on a large farm known as Burrow Hill Cider Farm, which acts as a stand-in for Wanda's home at the start of the film. Local residents claim Klyne and Hilliard were also on location, but there are no leaked photographs to verify this.

The Direct also claims that Adam Hugill (1917, The Watch) is playing an alien minotaur called Rintrah. And, based on the fact that a minotaur character has been seen in both trailers, this seems to be all-but-confirmed at this point.

Rintrah shields himself from an attack in Doctor Strange 2. (Image credit: Marvel Studio)

In the comics, the magically-imbued Rintrah hails from an alternate dimension planet called R’Vaal. He has a comic history with Doctor Strange, and he'll be an ally to the Sorcerer Supreme here.

Rintrah will be joined by Gargantos – the squid-like monster that we see in both trailers – as an extra-terrestrial creature who'll appear in Doctor Strange 2. Based on the fact that Wanda is the film's main villain, though, Gargantos will only be a secondary antagonist who may pursue Chavez to the MCU.

It seems like we'll be getting a Captain Marvel variant in Doctor Strange 2, too. The latest trailer shows that the superhero will feature, but it looks like this version will be played by Lashana Lynch or Teyonah Parris, who could return as Maria or Monica Rambeau respectively. We think the former is more likely as, like Brie Larson's Carol Danvers, she was a pilot. In another universe, Maria may have been the aviator who becomes imbued with the Tesseract's powers after a test flight powered by the Infinity Stone goes awry. This is what happens to Larson's Danvers in the 2019 MCU movie, so it could have happened in an alternate reality.

Bruce Campbell, who worked with Sam Raimi on the director's iconic Evil Dead series and Spider-Man trilogy, is believed to be making a cameo appearance (per Collider), while THR has claimed that Tom Hiddleston's Loki will feature. BGR has also suggested that Owen Wilson's Mobius and Sophia Di Martino's Sylvie might appear, too.

There are rumors of tons of other cameos, too. The latest trailer revealed that some version of the secret Marvel supergroup called The Illuminati will appear – more on them later – of which Professor X is a prominent member. According to MyTimeToShineHello, The Illuminerdi, Knight Edge Media's Caleb Williams, and Film Informant, John Krazinski (The Office, A Quiet Place) has been cast as a variant of iconic Fantastic Four member Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, who is also a part of the Illuminati. 

An Iron Man variant called Superior Iron Man (who is rumored to be played by a huge Hollywood star on Reddit), as well as Captain Carter from What If...? and Deadpool (thanks to fans pouring over the film's official poster on Reddit) are also rumored to feature in some capacity. Prominent Marvel leaker ViewerAnon has even claimed that we'll see even more cameos in the Multiverse of Madness. So, basically, don't rule anyone out at this stage.