As Rolling Stone prepared to release their definitive oral history of Marvel Studios first television project, WandaVision, the publication unveiled an excerpt from Marvel head Kevin Feige regarding Benedict Cumberbatch’s (Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness) potential inclusion in the series as Doctor Strange. Since the Scarlet Witch’s story is set to continue directly from WandaVision in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, many fans predicted an appearance from the Sorcerer Supreme in the show’s finale. In Monday’s Rolling Stone piece, Feige revealed why the plan to include Doctor Strange in Disney+’s WandaVision was ultimately scrapped.
“We didn’t want the end of the show to be commoditized to go to the next movie” Feige told Rolling Stone “here’s the white guy, ‘Let me show you how power works.’” Feige, and the creative team behind WandaVision, felt that having Doctor Strange swoop in to explain Wanda’s burgeoning powers would’ve negated aspects of her well-earned character development and agency. “It would have taken away from Wanda,” Feige put it more simply “which is what we didn’t want to do” (Rolling Stone).
Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange was written out of more than just WandaVision’s finale, according to showrunner Jac Schaeffer (WandaVision, Timer). Schaeffer told Rolling Stone that there was discussion of having Cumberbatch appear early on in the series, reaching out to Wanda via one of the show’s advertisement segments. It’s unclear whether this ad would have been coded, like the Yo-Magic ad that ended up being about Kathryn Hahn’s (Transparent, Mrs. Fletcher) Agatha Harkness, or have featured Cumberbatch’s voice or character outright.
Elizabeth Olsen will return as Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Magic, a sequel which likewise underwent revisions in light of the events of WandaVision. According to People, Olsen called her next MCU project “bonkers,” without revealing any specific details. While she and Cumberbatch will share plenty of screen time in the film, the Steven Strange actor will first appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Doctor Strange’s mission going into his titular sequel may be unveiled in the latest Spider-Man installment, but the Scarlet Witch’s sons, Billy and Tommy, will seemingly play role in her character’s underlying goals in the multiverse, as teased in WandaVision‘s final post-credits scene.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat