Not unlike Jon Watts' Spider-Man: No Way Home, director Sam Raimi's fast-approaching Marvel Studios film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is expected to feature some crowd-pleasing, multiversal cameos. Recently, Raimi discussed how exactly he went about tackling these moments in a way that didn't pull viewers out of the film's story itself.
"I think if that situation appears, sometimes the best answer is to just let the character who's experiencing this new character react truthfully," the director said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "Now, if there was a famous character from another universe that appeared in Multiverse of Madness, I'm not sure that our Doctor Strange would even know who he was; he might blow him off and not make it any big deal at all.
"I think a truthful response can sometimes be the funniest or the most engaging for an audience," Raimi continued. "You put them in a position like, 'Man, you don't know who that guy is? Oh, my God!' It's like if some schmo was meeting James Bond onscreen for the first time, and said, 'Buddy, you'll have the martini the way I serve it. Get me?' 'Don't you know that's James Bond?!' That's a different kind of fun for the audience to have."
With Multiverse of Madness, Raimi makes his long-awaited return to the world of Marvel adaptations, having previously helmed Sony's initial trilogy of Spider-Man films from 2002 to 2007. Prior to directing Spidey's cinematic adventures, Raimi came up in the horror scene, and is perhaps best known as the director of the original Evil Dead trilogy. This is noteworthy, as the Doctor Strange sequel has long been said to feature prominent horror elements.
Multiverse of Madness, naturally, is also confirmed to feature a number of Marvel characters from across the multiverse, including alternate versions of lead characters Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) themselves. Additionally, Patrick Stewart is apparently reprising his role as Charles Xavier/Professor X. However, evidence points towards Stewart portraying the version of Professor X featured in X-Men: The Animated Series (or at least a new version inspired by that one), as opposed to the version of the character he previously played in 20th Century Fox's live-action X-Men films.
Promotional material has also all but confirmed that Captain Carter, an alternate version of Peggy Carter who was given the Super Soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers, will make her live-action debut in Multiverse of Madness. Captain Carter was a featured player in the Marvel Studios animated series What If...?. That said, with Strange and company preparing to go on a trek across the multiverse and no doubt peek their heads into various alternate realities, Marvel fans can likely expect even more surprise appearances.
See what fan-favorite characters appear when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness releases in theaters on May 6.
Source: Rolling Stone
