Did Doctor Strange in Multiverse of Madness Trailer Teases Character’s Archnemesis?

Fans can’t stop raving about the second trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The trailer gave fans incredible looks at the film’s expansive set pieces, and may have even teased the potential arrival of the Sorcerer Supreme’s longest-running villain.

Seemingly set immediately after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the eponymous character (Benedict Cumberbatch) details his problems sleeping, even making it a point to mention his nightmares. That, of course, could either be nothing—or it could be a direct nod to the character’s archnemesis.

For as long Strange has walked the halls of the Marvel pantheon of characters, Nightmare has faced off against the sorcerer in a battle of the ultimate magicians. At one point, Nightmare was going to serve as the primary villain of the first Doctor Strange, though Kevin Feige convinced then-director Scott Derrickson otherwise.

“Kevin [Feige] made a very cogent case,” said Derrickson. “The trouble with starting with Nightmare is getting across the idea of the Dream Dimension as another dimension. The movie was challenging enough. It’s already an exposition-heavy movie… Dormammu made the most sense. And he is the most present villain in the comics.”

“I didn’t want to do what the comics did and start off with Mordo just being and arch nemesis and a bad guy straight from the beginning,” Derrickson told ComicBook.com in a separate interview. “I think with all so called villains, with all antagonists in any movie, you are only as invested in them as you are in their point of view and Mordo has a good strong point of view in this movie and the same is true of Mads Mikkelson’s character. They’re both men of idea, men of principles, men of beliefs and those are the kind of antagonists I enjoy watching, so we tried to make a movie with those kind of antagonists.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters May 6th. What other characters do you think will end up appearing in the upcoming feature? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!