Doctor Strange Star Benedict Cumberbatch "Would Love to Have Seen" Iron Strange Deleted Scene

05/10/2022 11:01 pm EDT

What if... Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) swapped superhero suits? Somewhere in the infinite Marvel Multiverse, there's a version of Avengers: Infinity War where Stephen Strange wears the Iron Man armor — transforming the sorcerer into Iron Strange to protect himself from the piercing magic of the Black Order's Ebony Maw (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor). Infinity War co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely revealed the first on-set image of the amalgamation on ComicBook, showing Cumberbatch encased in Iron Man's Mark L armor and Downey's Tony Stark wearing Strange's sentient Cloak of Levitation. 

Reflecting on the costume swap while promoting Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Cumberbatch said on BBC Radio 1 he was "a bit" disappointed the Iron Strange scene never made it into the final cut of Infinity War. 

"We both were [disappointed]," Cumberbatch said of co-star Downey. "It took a long time to splurge those spliced costumes together (laughs). It was an amazing moment ... I mean, having a bit of that outerwear on you, it's very, very, very cool. I would love to have seen what that combination of wizardry and that tech would do, as well. Bring it on."

After a Marvel Studios artbook revealed concept art of Strange suiting up as Iron Man to protect himself from Maw's "magic needle torture," Markus and McFeely told ComicBook that alternate versions of the scene "were just too awesome" — and too long — to keep. In the finished film, it's Stark and the armored Spider-Man (Tom Holland) who save Strange aboard Maw's Q-Ship. 

"One early script idea that didn't make into the final movie was this hybrid of the Iron Man Mk 50 suit and Dr. Strange," conceptual artist Phil Saunders explained on ArtStation. "To protect Strange from Maw's magic needle torture, Tony transfers his suit onto him. I imagined the Eye of Agamotto would have taken the place of Tony's RT and powered the suit, burning a sigil around it. Later in the scene Tony gets Strange's cloak, leading to a bizarre team-up." 

Strange nearly had another brush with Iron Man in Doctor Strange 2: screenwriter Michael Waldron recently revealed the multiversal movie weighed including an alternate Iron Man portrayed by Tom Cruise, whose interest in the character predated the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That idea never made it past, "What if?" 

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams, Marvel's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing only in theaters. 

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