Marvel’s Cinematic Universe is constructed in such a way that each film can be enjoyed independently of the bigger picture. But each new film adds more details to the main story, which then makes huge crossovers possible like Infinity War and Endgame. And of course, the best way to watch those two is to see all the MCU films that preceded them. Key plot elements from Doctor Strange, Captain America: Civil War, and Ant-Man are part of the final Avengers films, and they make the entire experience so much better. Now that we’ve moved past Thanos and Iron Man’s deaths, Marvel is building the next massive intertwined Avengers story. Although Avengers 5 isn’t going to be a new Endgame, we’ll certainly be getting an epic Endgame-like film at some point in the coming years.
The closer we get to the start of MCU Phase 4, the more details we learn about the 14 films and TV series that are part of it. We also see more and more evidence that Doctor Strange 2 may be one of the most important MCU films for the overarching story going forward, and a couple of new leaks reveal additional spoilers about the upcoming film.
The first Doctor Strange film helped deliver a few details about how this massive universe works. It established that magic exists and that it can have a dark side, it introduced time manipulation as an element of it, and it set the stage for a multiverse whose madness we’ve only just begun to explore. We’ve since come to accept that there are multiple universes out there, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will probably explore several of them.
Marvel already made a few surprising comments about the sequel, revealing that both Wanda and Loki will be in it — and the mention of Loki is all the more exciting considering the Loki who’s alive in the MCU right now hails from a different dimension. Our Loki, so to speak, died at the very beginning of Infinity War as far as we’re all concerned. Marvel also said that the film will introduce a hero we didn’t see coming, without revealing other details about him or her. Also confirmed for Strange 2 film is Wong, who will likely resume his role in helping Strange keep this world in check.
Separately, an increasing number of rumors revealed the various heroes who might appear in the film — Deadpool, Wolverine, Namor, Miss America, Brother Voodoo, and Clea have all been mentioned in various reports so far. Also of note, Nightmare is reportedly one of the film’s villains.
This brings us to the latest Strange 2 leak that tells us Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) will return the in the new film. That makes plenty of sense considering what happened when we last saw him. Mordo is hardly happy with the way The Ancient One, Stephen Strange, and other magicians use magic, and he’ll likely be one of the antagonists in the upcoming story.
Apparently, The Illuminerdy had access to the character list for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which reveals that Mordo will return for the sequel… but also that the parts for Clea and Brother Voodoo are still open. The character is apparently one of the five “major” characters who will star in the sequel, which means he’ll play a central role in the story. It’s unclear who these characters are, but Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), and Wong (Benedict Wong) are almost certainly three of them. And a recent report suggested that Clea might also have an important role in the film.
Separately, Murphy Multiverse speculates that Clea might be played by Emily Blunt. The actress apparently met with Marvel while she was shooting Disney’s upcoming Jungle Cruise film. It’s unclear whether she actually signed anything with the studio, but Murphy says that in light of the Clea casting leak, Blunt may have been eyed for the role.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens on May 7th, 2021 and is set to start shooting later this year.
