Avengers: Doomsday is shaping up to be the biggest assembly of heroes the MCU has seen to date, even outdoing Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but that doesn’t mean everyone will be back. There are over two dozen actors already confirmed for Doomsday, with many more – such as Chris Evans as Captain America – heavily rumored to be returning for the showdown with Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom. Still, some of the biggest hitters have not yet been confirmed, with the status of characters such as Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch up in the air.
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Another of those mighty heroes whose return has not yet been made official is Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). He was last seen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which seemingly set him up for an even bigger role in the multiversal events to come in the MCU. It’s surprising his role in Doomsday hasn’t been confirmed, and the actor has previously played coy on his involvement. In a new interview with Collider, however, he gave the most definitive update yet on his status. Cumbatch revealed he now “has more than a sense” of his MCU future, and that he “definitely will” be back at some point.
Doctor Strange Needs To Return Sooner Rather Than Later
Cumberbatch’s comments don’t confirm whether he’ll be in Avengers: Doomsday and/or Avengers: Secret Wars, but they’re nonetheless good news for Doctor Strange’s future. While he played a significant role in both Infinity War and Endgame, Strange was set up as one of the heroes who could define the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, but has been limited to just a single appearance, so a return already feels overdue.
That’s particularly true after Multiverse of Madness‘ post-credits scene, which saw Strange heading off through a portal to the Dark Dimension with Clea (Charlize Theron), and teasing him investigating multiverse incursions (not to mention revealing his third eye). It feels like a missed opportunity not to expand upon that before Doomsday and Secret Wars, where incursions should play a major part, so hopefully Cumberbatch’s character will return for at least one of those movies, if not both.
Beyond that, there’s also the potential for Doctor Strange 3 to happen, although it wouldn’t be until Phase 7 (after Secret Wars wraps up Phase 6) at the earliest. Multiverse of Madness pulled in $955 million at the box office, making it one of Marvel’s biggest post-Endgame movies (albeit helped by multiple other heroes and cameos), so a sequel would be a no-brainer at some point, but Cumberbatch needs to come back sooner than that, and the Avengers movies are the perfect place for it.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released on December 18th, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars coming on December 17th, 2027.
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