Now that Spider-Man: No Way Home is officially in theaters, it's officially time to turn the MCU's attention to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In fact, it turns out that the arrival of the newest Spider-Man might have been one of the reasons Doctor Strange 2 went through all those recent reshoots.
When news of the reshoots first started circulating, quite a few people were concerned that something had gone very, very wrong with the movie. Those worries continued despite the protestations of Benedict Cumberbatch. At the time, the actor pointed out that sometimes reshoots were not a bad thing. Now, a new report seems to indicate that those rehoots were less about fixing mistakes and more about mimicing Spider-Man: No Way Home in one big way.
A report from The Hollywood Reporter indicates that the newest Spider-Man film and Disney Plus' Loki series convinced Doctor Strange 2 producers to take greater advantage of the "fun" that can come from the multiverse. That fun apparently includes a bunch of cameos from various characters. In particular, it appears that some of these reshoots are going to be trying to take advantage of nostalgia among MCU fans.
One set of rumors claims that Bruce Campbell, who appeared in the first set of Spider-Man movies and is a frequent Sam Raimi collabroator, could make an appearance as a variant of the villain first played by Jake Gyllenhaal, Mysterio. There's even some talk that Campbell could turn up as Ash from the Evil Dead series. The idea of "variants" popping up in the multiverse was first brought to light by the Loki series on Disney Plus and No Way Home continued that idea with the appearance of multiple Spider-Men.
As for who else exactly might be getting added to Doctor Strange 2, that's still a bit of a mystery. However, the previously reported reshoots were supposed to take about six weeks, which industry insiders said was enough time for some significant changes.
While cameos are expected, not much has slipped out about who might make those cameos outside of the Campbell rumors. It's also not clear if any of those reshoots might have been to be more in line with characters who made appearances in Spide-Man: No Way Home or who might be helping to set up Spider-Man 4. As of right now, it appears MCU fans will have to wait until Multiverse of Madness debuts later next spring.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing in theaters and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness releases in theatres on May 6th, 2022.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter