Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (SethStacker69's Version)

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is an upcoming American epic superhero fantasy horror crossover 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 from a script written by Jade Halley Bartlett and Michael Waldron, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, 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 Bartlett was hired to write the film that October. Derrickson stepped down as director in January 2020, citing creative differences. The next month, Waldron joined the project and Raimi took over as director. 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 be released in the United States on May 6, 2022, as part of Phase Four of the MCU.

Premise
Following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and the first season of Loki (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
Note: If an actor plays more than one character, they will be listed separately, to better demonstrate the large amount of characters in the movie.
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange
 * Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo
 * Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
 * Benedict Wong as Wong
 * Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez
 * Michael Stuhlbarg as Nicodemus West
 * Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer
 * Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
 * Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
 * Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
 * Tom Hiddleston as Loki Laufeyson
 * Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness
 * Paul Bettany as Vision
 * Aaron Taylor Johnson as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
 * Hugh Jackman as Logan Howlett/Wolverine
 * Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier
 * Ian McKellen as Erik Lensherr/Magneto
 * Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm
 * Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme/Mystique
 * Sophie Turner as Jean Grey
 * Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast
 * Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver/Ralph Bohner
 * James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier
 * Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr/Magneto
 * Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool
 * Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic
 * Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/Human Torch
 * Jessica Alba as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman
 * Michael Chiklis as Benjamin Grimm/The Thing
 * Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
 * Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider
 * Thomas Jane as Frank Castle/The Punisher
 * Wesley Snipes as Eric Brooks/Blade
 * Mahershala Ali as Eric Brooks/Blade
 * Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom
 * Eric Bana as Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk
 * Tom Cruise as Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * John Krasinski as Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Emily Blunt as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * Triple H as Thor Odinson
 * Leonardo DiCaprio as Bruce Banner/Hulk
 * Brad Pitt as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
 * John Krasinski as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
 * Emily Blunt as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman
 * Adam DeVine as Johnny Storm/Human Torch
 * Dwayne Johnson as Benjamin Grimm/The Thing
 * Keanu Reeves as John Wick
 * Seth MacFarlane as Ted (voice)
 * Mark Wahlberg as John Bennett
 * Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800
 * Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor
 * Adam Sandler as Billy Madison
 * Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross
 * Jason Statham as Lee Christmas
 * Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen
 * Randy Couture as Toll Road
 * Ben Stiller as Lawrence "Larry" Daley
 * Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esq.
 * Keanu Reeves as Ted "Theodore" Logan
 * Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura
 * Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat Sagdiyev
 * Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo
 * Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog (voice)
 * Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman
 * Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
 * Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash
 * Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
 * Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
 * Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn
 * Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman
 * Malin Akerman as Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II
 * Billy Crudup as Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan
 * Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs/Rorschach
 * Patrick Wilson as Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II
 * Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Keanu Reeves as John Constantine
 * Kanye West as himself
 * Mike Myers as Shrek (voice)
 * Eddie Murphy as Donkey (voice)
 * Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots (voice)
 * Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson
 * Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore
 * Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley
 * Will Smith as John Hancock
 * Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman
 * Jack Black as Jeff Portnoy
 * Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus
 * Keanu Reeves as Neo
 * Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
 * Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
 * Will Smith as Will Smith
 * Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton Banks
 * Karyn Parsons as Hilary Banks
 * Tatyana Ali as Ashley Banks
 * Janet Hubert as Vivian Banks #1
 * Daphne Maxwell Reid as Vivian Banks #2
 * Joseph Marcell as Geoffrey
 * Jabari Banks as Will Smith
 * Olly Sholotan as Carlton Banks
 * Coco Jones as Hilary Banks
 * Akira Akbar as Ashley Banks
 * Cassandra Freeman as Vivian Banks
 * Adrian Holmes as Phillip Banks
 * Jimmy Akingbola as Geoffrey
 * Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander
 * Owen Wilson as Hansel McDonald
 * Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy
 * Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana
 * Steve Carell as Brick Tamland
 * David Koechner as Champion "Champ" Kind
 * Jack Black as Dewey Finn
 * Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods
 * Luke Wilson as Emmett Richmond
 * Vince Vaughn as Peter "Pete" LaFleur
 * Christine Taylor as Katherine "Kate" Veatch
 * Justin Long as Justin Redman
 * Alan Tudyk as "Pirate" Steve Cowan
 * Joel David Moore as Owen Dittman
 * Stephen Root as Gordon Pibb
 * Jamal Duff as Me'Shell Jones
 * Missi Pyle as Fran Stalinovskovichdaviddivichski
 * Joel McHale as Jeff Winger
 * Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry
 * Alison Brie as Annie Edison
 * Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir
 * Ken Jeong as Ben Chang
 * Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly
 * Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds
 * Rob McElhenney as Ronald "Mac" McDonald
 * Kaitlin Olson as Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds
 * Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds
 * Steve Carell as Michael Scott
 * John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
 * Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly-Halpert
 * Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
 * Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope
 * Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt
 * Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer
 * Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate
 * Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson
 * Vin Diesel as Dominic Torretto
 * Michelle Rodriguez as Leticia "Letty" Ortiz
 * Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce
 * Ludacris as Tej Parker
 * Jordana Brewster as Mia Torretto
 * Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth
 * David Cross as Tobias Funke
 * Will Arnett as Gob Bluth
 * Tony Hale as Buster Bluth
 * Portia de Rossi as Lindsay Bluth Funke
 * Michael Cera as George Michael Bluth
 * Alia Shakwat as Maeby Funke
 * Jeffrey Tambor as George Bluth
 * Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson (voice)
 * Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson (voice)
 * Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson (voice)
 * Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson (voice)
 * Hank Azaria as Moe Szyslak (voice)
 * Harry Shearer as Lenny Leonard (voice)
 * Alex Desert as Carl Carlson (voice)
 * Dan Castellaneta as Barney Gumble (voice)
 * Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin (voice)
 * Alex Borstein as Lois Griffin (voice)
 * Seth Green as Chris Griffin (voice)
 * Mila Kunis as Meg Griffin (voice)
 * Seth MacFarlane as Brian Griffin (voice)
 * Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin (voice)
 * Seth MacFarlane as Glenn Quagmire (voice)
 * Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson (voice)
 * Arif Zahir as Cleveland Brown (voice)
 * Seth MacFarlane as Albert Stark
 * Charlize Theron as Anna Barnes
 * Jamie Foxx as Django Freeman
 * Denzel Washington as Sam Chisholm
 * Charlize Theron as Lorraine Broughton
 * Charlize Theron as Andromache of Scythia
 * KiKi Layne as Nile Freeman
 * Matthias Schoenarts as Booker/Sebastian Le Livre
 * Marwan Kenzari as Joe/Yusuf Al-Kaysani
 * Luca Marinelli as Nicky/Nicolo di Genova
 * Chiwetel Ejiofor as James Copley
 * Ryan Reynolds as Guy
 * Jodie Comer as Millie Rusk/Molotov Girl
 * Lil Rel Howery as Buddy
 * Antonio Banderas as Gregorio Cortez
 * Carla Gugino as Ingrid Cortez
 * Daryl Sabara as Juni Cortez
 * Alexa PenaVega as Carmen Cortez
 * Danny Trejo as Isador "Machete" Cortez
 * Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants (voice)
 * Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star (voice)
 * Ben Whishaw as Paddington Bear (voice)
 * Dwayne Johnson as Robbie Wierdicht/"Bob Stone"
 * Kevin Hart as Calvin Joyner
 * Cillian Murphy as Thomas "Tommy" Shelby
 * Ryan Reynolds as Michael Bryce
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Darius Kincaid
 * Salma Hayek as Sonia Kincaid
 * Jennifer Lopez as Karen Sisco
 * Carla Gugino as Karen Sisco
 * Dwayne Johnson as John Hartley
 * Ryan Reynolds as Nolan Booth
 * Kurt Russell as Santa Claus
 * Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus
 * Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
 * Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
 * Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler
 * Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven
 * Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson
 * Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair
 * Noah Schnapp as Will Byers
 * Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Anne Summers
 * Anna Faris as Cindy Campbell
 * David Duchovny as Agent Fox Mulder
 * Gillian Anderson as Agent Dana Scully
 * Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer
 * Seth Rogen as Mac Radner
 * Rose Byrne as Kelly Radner
 * Zac Efron as Teddy Sanders
 * Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed
 * Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa
 * Bradley Cooper as Phillip Wennick
 * Ed Helms as Stuart Price
 * Zach Galifianakis as Alan Garner
 * Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
 * David Spade as Joe Dirt
 * Frank Welker as Godzilla (voice)
 * Frank Welker as King Kong (voice)
 * Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton
 * Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth
 * Ben Stiller as Greg Focker
 * Robert De Niro as Jack Byrnes
 * Channing Tatum as Michael "Magic Mike" Lane
 * Kevin James as Paul Blart
 * Uma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo/"The Bride"
 * Billy West as Phillip J. Fry (voice)
 * John DiMaggio as Bender Bending Rodriguez (voice)
 * Katey Sagal as Turanga Leela (voice)
 * Chris Hemsworth as Eric the Huntsman
 * Kristen Stewart as Snow White
 * Jack Black as Po (voice)
 * Angelina Jolie as Tigress (voice)
 * Jackie Chan as Monkey (voice)
 * David Cross as Crane (voice)
 * Lucy Liu as Viper (voice)
 * Seth Rogen as Mantis (voice)
 * Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu (voice)
 * Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw
 * Kristin Davis as Charlotte York
 * Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes
 * Debby Ryan as Jessie Prescott
 * Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
 * Adam Sandler as Zohan Dvir
 * Mike Myers as Austin Powers
 * Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan
 * Morgan Freeman as God
 * Denzel Washington as Robert McCall
 * Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby
 * John C. Reilly as Cal Naughton Jr.
 * Will Smith as Agent J
 * Will Ferrell as Megamind (voice)
 * David Cross as Minion (voice)
 * Jonah Hill as Morton Schmidt
 * Channing Tatum as Greg Jenko
 * Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper
 * Iain Armitage as Sheldon Cooper
 * Ellie Kemper as Kimmy Schmidt
 * Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green
 * Courteney Cox as Monica Geller
 * Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay
 * Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani
 * Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing
 * David Schwimmer as Ross Geller
 * Ryan Gosling as Holland March
 * Russell Crowe as Jackson Healy
 * Angourie Rice as Holly March
 * Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
 * Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
 * Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
 * Eddie Murphy as Jerry Klump
 * Will Ferrell as Detective Allen Gamble
 * Mark Wahlberg as Detective Terry Holtz
 * Jon Hamm as Don Draper
 * Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky
 * Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa
 * Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones
 * Rowan Atkinson as Johnny English
 * Bill Murray as Peter Venkman
 * Dan Aykroyd as Raymond "Ray" Stantz
 * Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore
 * Arnold Schwarzenegger as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer
 * Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley
 * Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean
 * Bruce Campbell as Ashley "Ash" Williams
 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson (post-credits scene)
 * Natalie Portman as Jane Foster/Thor (post-credits scene)

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 Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (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 also continues from the film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), in which Cumberbatch stars as Strange, as well as 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' Phase Four 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. 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. 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 negative critical reaction to Spider-Man 3 (2007), but accepted the job for the challenge and because he is a fan of the Doctor Strange character and Derrickson's work on the first film. Waldron opted to conceive the script with Raimi from scratch instead of using the horror-influenced foundation that Derrickson had developed with Bartlett. 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. 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.

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 due to increased COVID-19 cases, 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. 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. Cumberbatch had begun filming his scenes by then, after completing his work on Spider-Man: 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. 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. 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". 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.

Post-production
Bob Murawski serves as editor 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, as well as the fact 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.

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), Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). 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 Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). By February 2021, Elfman had begun working on music to be used during filming, but was not beginning work on the actual score for the sequel for several months.

Marketing
A teaser trailer for the film appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits, 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 would be featured, which he believed was Doctor Strange Supreme, a variant of the character introduced in the animated series What If...?. Inverse's 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 Spider-Man: No Way Home, WandaVision, and the first seasons of Loki and What If...?. Writing for Decider, Alex Zalben believed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a "direct result" of What If...?, which "instantly making 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". Merchandise for the film began to be available starting in December 2021 with the reveal of Marvel Legends figures based on the film.

Release
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 6, 2022. 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.

Trivia

 * This is one of the first few crossover movies to have the most characters appear in a single movie.
 * Disney, in addition to using characters from franchises they own, had licensed the other characters from Sony, Warner Bros., Universal etc. by asking them or the creators for permission.