Marvel Studios is knee deep in Phase Four of their feature film cycle after the release of four of their feature films with at least six more on the calendar as well, not to mention the many, many Disney+ original series that are streaming. Across everything that has debuted so far though, there’s a persistent presence across Phase Four, Benedict Wong’s Wong, now the Sorcerer Supreme of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. To date Wong has had sizeable appearances in both Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (itself perhaps hinting at a connection to ) and Spider-Man: No Way Home, with even more screen time in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness a guarantee. That in mind, Wong wants to rename the phase.
Speaking in the new issue of Empire Magazine (H/T SlashFilm), Wong revealed what he calls Phase Four, giving it an all-new and fitting title. “I call it Phase Wong. It’s a nice, interesting shift. Wong has taken on a new role, and that dynamic changes between them [Wong and Strange] both.” Not only does Wong now hold the title of Sorcerer Supreme in the MCU, inherited because Doctor Strange was snapped by Thanos for five years, but as previously noted he’s kind of become a new Nick Fury figure for the films, recruiting Shang-Chi to study the Ten Rings further at the end of his own movie.
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“I think we all just got excited about the idea of Wong. People love Wong. We love Wong,” Shang-Chi producer Jonathan Schwartz previously told ComicBook.com. “Benny Wong’s the greatest, and we’re very happy with it. So we ran with the Wong of it all. We love it.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will feature even more Wong, as the new Sorcerer Supreme and Stephen Strange deal with the multiversal ramifications from Spider-Man: No Way Home. Hopefully he makes it out of that one to continue his streak of appearances.
Marvel’s official description for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness reveals that the MCU has “unlocked he Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending anddangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.”
Benedict Cumberbatch leads as the title hero (and his variants), plus Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams. Directed by Spider-Man’s Sam Raimi, written by Loki’s Michael Waldron, and produced by Kevin Feige, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness releases in U.S. theaters on May 6, 2022.
