While Marvel Studios is inching closer to the end of its run of nine releases in 2021, the team behind the scenes is feverishly preparing to start promotional tours for more than a dozen entries in 2022. The first of these projects on the theatrical side will be Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is building up hype as one of the most anticipated projects in all Phase 4.
The Sorcerer Supreme is set to take on quite a challenging journey in his solo sequel after having already faced the partial collapse of the multiverse in December's Spider-Man: No Way Home. Throw in formidable bad guys like the tentacled Shuma Gorath and the responsibility to keep all of time and space from collapsing, and the Master of the Mystic Arts will have his shaky hands more than full.
Thankfully, at his side will be the increasingly powerful and newly-monikered Scarlet Witch after her experiences in the Disney+ series WandaVision.
While Benedict Cumberbatch is undoubtedly the star of the Doctor Strange sequel, there's still the mystery of how big Wanda Maximoff's role in the story will actually be. Thanks to newly released promotional images, an answer to that question may have arrived.
A True Strange/Maximoff Team-Up Effort
The @DrStrangeUpdate Twitter account shared photos of a crew beanie gifted to the stunt workers on Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
A beanie boasted the Marvel Studios logo above text that read "Doctor Strange II Stunt Team." This is likely an exclusive collectible item for the film's crew members, although it looks like Marvel knew the movie's title was a little long to put on a beanie:
Also included in the post was a new logo that combines Wanda Maximoff's tiara from the new Scarlet Witch costume with the emblem in the window of the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Wanda's Role Bigger Than Expected?
When the Doctor Strange sequel was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, Marvel brought Elizabeth Olsen on stage as she officially became this movie's leading female character. However, it wasn't specified how substantial her role would actually be.
Looking at this image of the two characters' symbols interwoven with one another, it seems to suggest that Wanda's role in Doctor Strange 2 may be nearly as big as that of the Sorcerer Supreme.
After realizing her full potential by the end of WandaVision, the Scarlet Witch is certainly powerful enough to handle any threat that may come her way, no matter how much help she has. With this new imagery, though, it appears that her individual story in the Doctor Strange sequel could be just as important as Strange's in her first Phase 4 movie.
It will be exciting to find out exactly how that manifests in the story, particularly with other key returning players like Wong and Mordo alongside newcomers like Xochitl Gomez's America Chavez. At the end of the day, as one of the most powerful Avengers, Wanda's importance to the MCU's future seems to grow by the project.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will debut in theaters on March 25, 2022.
