Doctor Strange Star Benedict Cumberbatch Reveals If His What If…? Variant Appears in Marvel Sequel

Marvel Studios is almost ready to unleash Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on the masses next week and we’re starting to get a lot more details on the film. The films trailers have revealed that we will see an evil version of the titular character and everyone assumes that it’s the same character that we got introduced to in Marvel Studios What If…? animated series. In a new issue of Total Film magazine (via Games Radar), Benedict Cumberbatch reveals that Sinister Strange may not be the same character from the animated series.

The actor reveals that the evil version of Strange we see in the film isn’t the same one from Marvel Studios’ What if…? series. “is nothing that you’ve seen before. What If…? is a beautiful riff of a potential. And this is something different.” Cumberbatch went on to joke about some other cameos  in the film. “There are five Spider-Men in this film. Spider-Women, too. And Spider- Everythings! No, we don’t. I will confirm or deny nothing!”

The Doctor Strange sequel focuses on the multiverse pretty heavily, and it seems as if the films writer, Michael Waldron, thinks we should proceed with the multiverse very cautiously. While speaking with SFX Magazine via Gamesradar, the Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer explained how Marvel Studios use of the multiverse is a double-edged sword.

“The danger is you can expand your scope too wide, and you can actually reduce the stakes if you don’t make it personal as you go bigger and wider. But the opportunity in the multiverse is to have characters confront literal ‘What ifs?’ and alternate versions of themselves and perhaps others in their lives. It’s an interesting way to hold up a mirror to characters,” Waldron said. “In every way, it shapes the emotional heart of the story. It has to. The multiverse isn’t just a MacGuffin where we’re like, ‘Okay, this is just a kitschy thing that we’re playing with in this movie.’ If you’re faced with alternate realities and with alternate versions of yourself that has to become the emotional heart, exploring who you might be if you were a different version of yourself, if you made other choices, the right choices or the wrong choices. It’s complex stuff, emotionally, and that’s exactly why it’s so thrilling and so great for a cast as dramatically talented as this one.”

Marvel Studios describes Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as follows: “To restore a world where everything is changing, Strange seeks help from his ally Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, and the Avengers’ most powerful Scarlet Witch, Wanda. But a terrible threat looms over humanity and the entire universe that no longer can be done by their power alone. Even more surprising, the greatest threat in the universe looks exactly like Doctor Strange.” 


The film is directed by the legendary Sam Rami and will star Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Benedict Wong as Wong, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/ Scarlet Witch, Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to hit theaters on May 5th, 2022!

What do you think about Benedict Cumberbatch’s comments? Are you excited to see the film? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!