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Marvel Studios Will Make Doctor Strange 2
Marvel Studios is definitely going to make Doctor Strange 2, at some point. Thanks to the ever-expanding nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, those in charge of the universe have been blessed with an abundance of riches. They've relied heavily on the original Avengers for three phases, but also introduced new leads to take their place in Phase 4 and beyond. One of them should be Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, but Marvel is being cagey on the character's future.
After a stellar debut with Doctor Strange, he had a brief cameo in Thor: Ragnarok, and then was prominently featured in Avengers: Infinity War. Despite the reception to Cumberbatch, though, there hasn't been any news on a sequel. It has long been expected that director Scott Derrickson will return to the franchise if a sequel happens, but that's about it. Everyone's been left in the dark about the future so far, but Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige assures a proper sequel is on the way.
While speaking to CinemaBlend about the future of the MCU, Feige was asked about balancing the slate with so many franchises. Feige explained that it all comes back to scheduling, noting that potentially long gaps between sequels can sometimes be the norm. But, the wait also gives the leads chances at additional appearances in other films, a la Strange's recent films. Make no mistake though, Doctor Strange 2 is something they are planning.
"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 [Avengers:] 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."
Considering how well-received Cumberbatch has been as Strange, it is great to see Feige sneak in the plan to give him a sequel in this answer. Not too long ago, Cumberbatch said there was no word on a Doctor Strange sequel, so maybe something has changed. He was arguably the best character in Infinity War, after all, so bringing him back as a leading man would likely result in box office returns that surpass the original's $677 million worldwide gross.
Based on Feige's phrasing, this all but confirms that Strange will also be among those who "died" in Infinity War who make it out alive by the end of Avengers 4. It isn't too surprising, but that list continues to mount up and may make Infinity War's ending difficult to believe. Regardless, we can all start to firmly put Doctor Strange 2 in the MCU's future, it just remains to be seen how soon. The sequel has long been thought to be a great choice to close out Marvel's 2020 slate in November, but where exactly it lands is a question for Marvel to answer at a later time.
