Doctor Strange 2 is definitely a go at Marvel. Here's everything you need to know...
This article contains Avengers: Infinity War spoilers.
Doctor Strange raked in over $200 million during its domestic run, with a global total of over $675 million. This should make Doctor Strange 2 a certainty, but we never got an official guarantee that the Sorcerer Supreme would get a sequel...until now.
While it has been several years since Doctor Strange conjured its box office spell in 2016, Marvel intriguingly only confirmed official plans for a Doctor Strange 2 after the character "died" in Avengers: Infinity War. We suppose he gets better in Avengers: Endgame.
But the good news is, Scott Derrickson, who did such beautiful work on the first film, has now officially signed on with Marvel to direct Doctor Strange 2. No writer is currently attached, but that should change shortly (via Variety).
Doctor Strange 2 Cast
Well, it's a safe bet that Bendict Cumberbatch will return as Stephen Strange as will Benedict Wong as Wong. Hopefully we'll see more of Chiwetel Ejiofor's compelling Mordo, as well.
Doctor Strange 2 Release Date
Since Marvel still hasn't confirmed an official Doctor Strange 2 release date, but if you look at the full Marvel movie release calendar, there are a bunch of dates that haven't been claimed yet. Variety had said that the plan is for the script to be complete by the end of 2019, with production beginning in spring 2020. That rules out the two mystery Marvel 2020 dates on the calendar, but the remaining ones, well...any of these could end up being Doctor Strange 2.
February 12, 2021
May 7, 2021
November 5, 2021 (the first movie did really well with an autumn release date, so don't be surprised if this ends up being the Doctor Strange 2 release date)
February 18, 2022
May 6, 2022
July 29, 2022
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige talked about when to expect the movie to CinemaBlend. While discussing Ant-Man and the Wasp, he said they will of course do a Doctor Strange 2, the trick is simply figuring out when to make that movie.
"It's one of the reasons we've expanded to three films a year, is so that we could do the sequels to films that people have responded to--because we love to make continuing stories with characters people have responded to--but also keep doing the stuff that nobody's ever heard of, and people go, 'Why are you doing that?' That's fun... Sometimes it's where do those characters pop up? [Doctor] Strange, you know, whenever we do another Strange one, which we will do, it will be a number of years from the first Strange, and yet he's a very big part of Infinity War. So it is just a good problem to have when you have too many beloved characters that people want to see more of, whilst keeping to our core belief that we need to keep exploring nuance and keep doing different types of things."
We'll let you know as soon as there's anything else to report.
Doctor Strange 2 Story
Scott Derrickson spoke to Den of Geek UK about what kind of focus on the villains we might expect. "What made The Dark Knight so great was that the origin story of Batman had been well-told, and then it was time to bring in a villain where you really got to go deep," Derrickson said. "And not just the Joker, also Two-Face. It was a more visceral experience, I'd love to be able to do that for Doctor Strange."
Doctor Strange 2 Villain
As for who that villain might end up being? Derrickson named one in particular. "I really like the character of Nightmare and the concept [of] the Nightmare Realm"he told IGN. "That’s early – that’s like the first Strange tale. I think that’s in the introductory episode of Doctor Strange, and I always loved that."
Certainly we'll get another look at Dormammu, as well, right?
Doctor Strange 2 Characters
Screenwriter Jon Spaihts hinted we might finally get to meet Clea on the screen in Doctor Strange 2. There's a catch, though. “She’s a tricky character to interpret because her uncle is a kind of fire-headed omnipotent god and she’s kind of a hot babe who studies magic,” Mr. Spaihts told CBR. “That’s a tricky relationship to bring out of a comic book and on to a movie screen. But she’s a really compelling character as a foil, a love interest, a colleague of Doctor Strange’s, and she always carries with her that width of mystery as to whether she is human, and how human, and what that means for his relationship to her. So we might find a way to introduce her to the story.”
read more: Complete Guide to Marvel Universe Easter Eggs in Doctor Strange
Well, that kind of explains why we didn't see her already. We have our own list of characters we'd like to see show up in the sequel, as well. Of course, at the moment, it's not yet clear if Mr. Spaihts will return to write the sequel, but regardless, Clea is overdue for her closeup.
Mike Cecchini is the Editor in Chief of Den of Geek. You can read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @wayoutstuff.