‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ Originally Included Doctor Strange

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse almost included an epic Marvel cameo from Doctor Strange.

The film is set to release on Friday, marking the official launch of Sony’s animated Spider-Man multiverse. However, the Sorcerer Supreme was originally intended to play a role in this animated multiverse’s development, if the directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller had their way.

“The first draft ended with (Strange),” Lord said in an interview with Den of Geek. “Oh, that’s right! It ended with him saying, ‘Okay, I have some things to tell you…’ It was the first draft, like three years ago. It ended with Doctor Strange. Literally, the last frame was Doctor Strange, going, ‘Hello.’”

The question was not followed up in regards to why Doctor Strange was cut from the film but one can imagine theatrical rights to the character may have been a factor. However, if there was a Marvel Comics character who fits the mold for a cinematic universe explaining the whole multiverse thing for the first time, it is certainly Doctor Strange!

“Look, we wanted to make a movie that felt like it was the tip of the iceberg,” Lord told Comicbook.com in an exclusive interview. “You could imagine all of these other things. So it’s music to our ears that people could imagine a Spider-Noir film, and the Spider-Ham insane cartoon.” The directors called Spider-Verse merely the “tip of the iceberg” as plans to expand with future films continue.

From the beginning, the film was always going to focus on Miles Morales for his first big screen outing. “We started obviously with Miles, and went on a deep dive in that work, and we just thought it was so strong,” Lord said. “And there was so many amazing things that [Bendis] and [Picelli] came up with, and he has an intact family. He comes from two different cultures. That was so rich. That was like the foundation of everything.”

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is set to hit theaters on December 14th.