Doctor Strange 2 Should Bring Miles Morales To The MCU

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness should include Spider-Man, but Miles Morales' version rather than Peter Parker's. The upcoming sequel will see former Spider-Man franchise director Sam Raimi joining the MCU for Phase 4, even though it could have wide-ranging ramifications for the future of Marvel's sprawling expanded universe. And if the opportunity to open the Multiverse comes in the Doctor Strange sequel, Raimi should use it to bring another Spider-Man to the table.

So far, substantial details on the follow-up to Scott Derrickson's mind-bending 2016 original have been hard to come by. Other than Derrickson's early assertions that it would be a horror (something that may not be quite so true now that he's left the project over creative differences), the only concrete details involve who will star. Benedict Cumberbatch will return as Doctor Strange, Chiwetel Ejiofor has confirmed he's back as Karl Mordo and Elizabeth Olsen is in for a role that could see Scarlet Witch become a key part of Phase 4. Beyond that, speculation has centered on the title and its implications to the MCU exploring new dimensions and new worlds.

Not long after the title was revealed, the rumor mill suggested that Doctor Strange 2 would include alternate versions of established MCU superheroes. Further speculation even suggested that Sam Raimi would be reunited with Tobey Maguire for a fan-pleasing Spider-Man cameo that would take a lead from the Arrowverse's hugely successful Crisis event. Far better for fans, the Doctor Strange sequel and the future of the MCU would be Raimi bringing in Miles Morales instead.

There has been speculation of Miles Morales coming to the MCU since Spider-Man: Homecoming included an Easter egg nod to him in the form of Donald Glover's performance as Aaron Davis, otherwise known as Prowler and even more crucially known as Miles' uncle. It was an affectionate nod more than anything, but its popularity and the incredible success of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, should have indicated to both Marvel Studios and Sony that they should take the chance to bring Miles to live-action and tie him to the established Spider-Verse timeline (including the MCU).

Morales is a hugely popular character and the Multiverse being open means bringing the character over from his Ultimates Universe serves multiple purposes. Not only would it establish the existence of one of the most popular alternate realities in Marvel comics lore, but it would give Doctor Strange 2 a huge fan-pleasing boost and also set up the Sony Spider-Verse with the one thing it doesn't have and needs the most: its own Spider-Man. Using problems with the Multiverse as a launch-point to bring in mutants and alternate timelines would expand Marvel's available character roster massively and using Phase 4 as a sort of cross-roads for the soft rebooted second MCU era is a great idea.

Fundamentally, the Sony Spider-Verse will continue to be something of a second class platform as long as Spider-Man is leased out to the MCU, and bringing in Miles Morales in a backdoor origin story the same way Tom Holland's Spider-Man was introduced in Captain America: Civil War negates the need for a solo movie and brings a ready-made, hugely valuable character brand to Sony's plate. If Michael Keaton's Vulture can debut in the MCU and move over to Morbius, then surely Miles Morales can be a positive part of the Multiverse being open in Doctor Strange 2. That, fundamentally, might also give Marvel Studios the opportunity to leave that doorway open, rather than counting it solely as a negative, to make future potential appearances by other MCU character alternates possible. And since Marvel Studios are fundamentally in the money business, you'd have to question why they'd want to close that possibility off, given it could mean Iron Man and Captain America get like-for-like replacements.

Next: Miles Morales' Comic Backstory (& What The Spider-Verse Movie Changes)