Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' latest trailer featured many exciting moments, one of them showing the confirmed appearance of Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier from Fox's X-Men films. The actor's presence in the MCU sequel led many to believe that more crazy surprises will be featured, thus fueling speculation on which character will appear next.
Although it is not an Avengers film, the Multiverse's inclusion in the title is proof that the Doctor Strange sequel will have major ramifications across the MCU. This means that, aside from Strange and Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff, more heroes and even villains could arrive on the scene to either help the heroes or cause more trouble in the storyline.
An MCU project wouldn't be complete without the presence of leaks and rumors ahead of its release, and Multiverse of Madness is no stranger to this aspect. This means that the cast and crew who are involved in the sequel are doing everything that they can to preserve the sequel's secrets despite the amount of spoiler-heavy information present on social media.
Now, it looks like one of Benedict Cumberbatch's co-stars has experienced firsthand how the realm of Marvel secrecy works.
Benedict Cumberbatch's Dedication to Marvel Secrecy
The Power of the Dog actor Kodi Smit-McPhee sat down with Variety to talk about an interesting encounter with Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch on set.
Variety first asked McPhee if he is involved in some form in the upcoming sequel, but the former X-Men actor dodged the question by telling a story centered around Cumberbatch instead.
McPhee shared an interesting conversation with Cumberbatch while filming The Power of the Dog, with him asking the MCU star if he is "in the contract moving forward." However, the actor revealed that Cumberbatch "doesn't let out a secret," while also admitting that he was "slightly insulted" with the actor's "protective" nature about the matter:
“Uh listen, I had this conversation with Benedict [laughs] on set [of The Power of the Dog]…when he was in full method acting as well, and I was like, ‘Listen, I know you’re the dude in the boots right now with the rope, but you need to tell me: am I in the contract moving forward?’ And that guy doesn’t let out a secret. Like, I was actually slightly insulted…he’s really protective of that stuff."
McPhee previously portrayed Kurt Wagner a.k.a. Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and he had a brief cameo in Deadpool 2.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Secrets
Kodi Smit-McPhee's latest comment is proof that Benedict Cumberbatch will do whatever it takes to preserve the secrets of any MCU film, especially the one in which he is starring. Over the years, the Marvel brand of secrecy has been well known, and it seems that it also applies to non-MCU actors as well.
Cumberbatch has his own history of keeping Marvel secrets from the press. Back in March 2021, the MCU actor couldn't even show his face during a Zoom interview to avoid spoiling a major plot thread in Multiverse of Madness while he also consistently played coy about being in No Way Home despite reports of his appearance then.
This further cements Cumberbatch's dedication to the Marvel brand. In many ways, this is a good thing for fans since it allows them to watch the upcoming film without any spoilers.
This isn't the first time that a co-star was deprived of knowing certain Marvel secrets. In a previous interview, Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield revealed that he lied to Emma Stone about his surprise role in No Way Home, admitting that he took it "super-seriously."
Meanwhile, given that McPhee dodged the question of potentially returning as Nightcrawler, it's possible that the actor simply has no idea about another comeback. On the flip side, there could be something about his no-answer, and this could be his way of teasing his return in the sequel.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to premiere in theaters on May 6, 2022.
