‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is the most ambitious superhero film ever made, according to Tom Holland’s recent remarks. But a fellow Avengers star hilariously disputed that in a new interview, teasing that there’s an even better MCU movie than No Way Home. That’s Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the character in at least two upcoming Marvel movies. One of them is Spider-Man 3, and the other is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The latter will continue the multiverse story that started in WandaVision and No Way Home. That’s what insiders said about this “trilogy” storyline inside Phase 4. And Cumberbatch half-jokingly called out Holland’s remarks in an interview, saying that Doctor Strange 2 might be even more ambitious than Spider-Man 3. Beware, some spoilers might follow below.
Doctor Strange actor praises No Way Home
The actor talked to Variety while promoting two of his movies coming out soon, The Power of the Dog and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Unsurprisingly, Cumberbatch’s tenure as Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme came up, and he spoke about No Way Home.
Thanks to all the multiverse leaks that we’ve seen online for the better part of the year, we know precisely why No Way Home will be so exciting. It’s a multiverse movie that will reunite all the actors who appeared in Sony’s Spider-Man trilogies. Cumberbatch did not spoil any secrets, but he minced no words when it comes to the upcoming Spider-Man movie.
He called the film “daring and brilliant” in the interview, praising Sam Raimi’s work on the new trilogy. Cumberbatch said that he hasn’t seen the final cut of No Way Home, but having worked on the movie, he must have a pretty good idea of everything that happens. Especially if it connects to Doctor Strange 2. “Even on paper, the audacity [of No Way Home], I was like ‘How the hell is that gonna… f**k!” the actor exclaimed.
When Cumberbatch heard Tom Holland’s claim that No Way Home is “the most ambitious standalone superhero film ever made,” he had a great retort. “Until Doctor Strange 2 comes out,” the actor said. That’s a hilarious comeback given the relationship between these two characters and actors. You can listen to the entire interview at this link.
But Cumberbatch is probably not wrong. We’ve been telling you that Multiverse of Madness is the most exciting film of Phase 4 back since early 2020.
Why ‘Strange 2’ is more exciting than ‘Spider-Man’
The multiverse allows Sony to connect the other Spider-Man variants to the MCU. As a result, Sony can hitch its entire Spider-verse to Marvel’s MCU. But Marvel doesn’t have complete control over Spider-Man. So it’s no wonder that Marvel would make an even bigger multiverse movie than No Way Home.
Since early 2020, we’ve been hearing that Doctor Strange 2 will deliver a few incredible cameos. Marvel can use the film to connect the Fox properties to its own cinematic universe. Characters like Wolverine and Deadpool appeared in those cameo rumors. We even heard that alternate Avengers variants, like a different Iron Man, might appear in the film. Those rumors popped up before Doctor Strange 2 had a finalized script, however.
More recently, we witnessed another set of Multiverse of Madness cameo rumors that’s even more exciting. The film finished principal shooting months ago, and it’s currently filming reshoots. Not all of these leaks will pan out, but some of them are bound to be accurate. Current Doctor Strange 2 rumors say we’re in for a few crazy cameos, including a Strange villain variant we just saw in What If…?. X-Men mutants will appear in the film, including a Professor X version from the Fox movies. Finally, Loki characters Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) are also in the cards for the film.
Cumberbatch might be jokingly responding to Holland, but Doctor Strange 2 will likely be a lot more ambitious than No Way Home. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters on March 25th, 2022, just three months after No Way Home’s December 17th premiere.
