Doctor Strange 2 Reshoots Confirmed By Benedict Cumberbatch

Reshoots on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have been confirmed by star Benedict Cumberbatch. Speaking with the Today Show, Cumberbatch was asked where things stand with "Doctor Strange 2" and gave us just a tiny bit more than the standard Marvel Studios media training answer: "Very excited. Sam Raimi's at the helm so expect extraordinary things. And yeah we're making it even better: we've got some reshoots coming up in November and December, and it comes out in May. And I guess you'll have to wait until then... That's all you get." 

Now, whether he knows it or not, Benedict Cumberbatch may have just stepped onto a major landmine regarding Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Last week, controversy was building in Marvel Film Twitter circles, when one insider claimed to have learned some semi-alarming news: the convoluted multiverse saga of both Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness were forcing both films into late-stage reshoots. Needless to say, the Internet was all but ready to shoot the messenger over that ominous update, with a lot of naysayers claiming there was simply "no evidence" of any of it. Now, the rumors will certainly start churning again... 

That recent history aside, there's a big difference to be noted when it comes to Spider-Man: No Way Home doing reshoots right now, as opposed to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Spider-Man hits theaters in December; Doctor Strange 2 will arrive in May. In the Multiverse of Madness still fits within the usual process schedule in which a major blockbuster film can do reshoots - and in fact, it was just back in August that Cumberbatch let it be known that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was going into reshoots: 

 "It's all in the process of process right now," Cumberbatch told The Zoe Ball Show. "There's the usual pick-ups and stuff that we have to do in September, and then sometime next year [it will release]. I think it is known when it's slated to be released but I don't want to say if it isn't (laughs)."

When Marvel Studios recently rearranged its entire upcoming slate of films yet again, rumors pointed to difficulties in filming with new COVID protocols and shutdowns - as well as general complications with all the Marvel Multiverse crossovers and cameos. If Doctor Strange 2's reshoots are now happening in December, they could just be following the new timeline of Marvel Studios' production line. 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be in theaters on May 5, 2022.