Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is on the way, and we get more excited with each trailer that drops for a glimpse at what’s coming in Marvel Studios’ highly anticipated reunion with the director. To celebrate ticket release day, Raimi chatted with Fandango to tease what to expect in his first multiverse trip into the MCU.
On what the connections Doctor Strange carries over from the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Raimi coyly dodged whether we’ll be seeing any cameos but spoke to the effects that film will have on this one. “Spider-Man [No Way Home] broke open [the idea that] characters from the multiverse could visit our universe. But this is the first time that characters from our universe will go out into the multiverse and experience other universes,” Raimi said. “So, it’s going to be a continuation, but that, I think, is one of the biggest appeals. Finding other realities, and how they rhyme with our own, or how they are completely the opposite, or variations thereof.” Which leads to speculation about that Patrick Stewart voice-over, but Raimi is mum regarding a possible Professor X appearance: “I couldn’t promise you that Patrick Stewart’s in the picture. That’s all that Marvel will let me say.”
The director also spoke about his love for the Marvel universe and who he thinks is more powerful between Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch. “That’s a question I’ve been asking kids on the playground since third grade,” he said. “I think Wanda’s magic, from Marvel lore, is more powerful than almost any of the other characters in this picture, but Doctor Strange has the knowledge of the mystic arts that Wanda doesn’t have, and he’s got the help of Kamar-Taj. If you were to pit them against each other, different altered versions of themselves … there could be a Doctor Strange out there that’s more powerful than our Wanda. Or there could be a Wanda out there who is more powerful than our Wanda here. So, because of these altered versions”
Multiverse variants being at play really makes picking out a clear guilty party when asking “who broke the multiverse?” a tricky proposition. The director suggested possibilities on who we can expect to see as his film’s main antagonist. “Well, there’s iterations of our characters throughout the multiverse. So, if I were to say Strange … I’m not really supposed to answer this question, but I might be saying altered Strange. Same with Wanda and Mordo. But I would say, at different times, all of the above.” OK, Mr. Raimi, keep your secrets.
On the subject of his Spider-Man universe — and what seeing Tobey Maguire again in the suit made him feel in regards to reuniting with his old cast — Raimi wasn’t ruling anything out. “I’ve come to realise after making Doctor Strange that anything is possible, really anything in the Marvel universe, any team-ups. I love Tobey. I love Kirsten Dunst. I think all things are possible,” Raimi said. “I don’t really have a story or a plan. I don’t know if Marvel would be interested in that right now. I don’t know what their thoughts are about that. I haven’t really pursued that. But it sounds beautiful.” And for what it’s worth, sounds like he wouldn’t mind at all if his current experience with Marvel Studios continued, no matter the context: “It’s like the world’s best toy box to be able to play at Marvel. I’d love to come back and tell another tale.”