WARNING! Spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

After his appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Benedict Cumberbatch will return in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but when can fans expect the first trailer for the sorcerer's sequel to be released online? The multiversal sequel is set to be the next big-screen entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe following Tom Holland's Spider-Man threequel, and fans are already eager to see more of Doctor Strange in his next dimension-hopping adventure. As the hype for Spider-Man: No Way Home reaches its crescendo, attention is already turning to when fans can expect the trailer for the second Doctor Strange film to be released online, following its inclusion as the final post-credits scene of Marvel's latest cinematic offering.

Scheduled for release in May 2022, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will see the titular sorcerer come face to face with the full power and uncertainty of the multiverse. As his post-Avengers: Endgame research into the Time Stone continues, Strange will find himself battling all forms of multiversal threats. Little is known about the film, but the final end-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home gave fans a teaser of what to expect, including what appears to be either Gargantus or Shuma-Gorath, Mordo, and an evil variant of Strange himself, possibly tied to Marvel's What If...?'s evil Strange Supreme variant.

Related: Marvel Already Ruined Doctor Strange's Multiverse Villain Reveal

Following the release of No Way Home and the subsequent release of the first trailer for the Doctor Strange sequel, when can fans expect the trailer to be formally released online? Taking Spider-Man: No Way Home as a prime example, a likely window for the online release can be calculated. The first and record-breaking teaser trailer for No Way Home was released on August 23rd, 2021, which was exactly 114 days prior to the UK release of the movie. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is scheduled for release on May 6th, 2022, and 114 days prior to that is January 12th, 2022. Reasonably, it can therefore be deduced that a likely release window for the official Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness teaser trailer will be sometime in the middle of January 2022.

Blended image showing Wanda and Doctor Strange using their powers

Furthermore, this would align with other Marvel movie marketing strategies. For example, Avengers: Endgame showcased its first trailer on December 7th, 2018, before the climactic superhero blockbuster was later released on April 26th, 2019, leaving a gap of 140 days. More recently, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings saw its first trailer drop on April 19th, 2021, before coming to cinemas on September 2nd, 2021, with a gap of 136 days. The most recent Marvel film prior to Spider-Man: No Way Home was Chloe Zhao's Eternals, which had a gap of 165 days between its initial trailer on May 24th, 2021, and the film's theatrical release on November 5th, 2021.

Releasing the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer sometime in the middle of January 2022 would not only align with previous Marvel movie marketing strategies but would also make sense from a fan-service perspective. There is already plenty of hype surrounding the perfectly-reviewed Spider-Man: No Way Home and most fans will know by now to stay until the end of the credits, meaning they will see the teaser trailer for themselves. Come the middle of January 2022, fans will be clamoring to see the trailer once again and analyze it for any minor details that could allude to what happens in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Leaving the official trailer until January 2022 allows for word-of-mouth to spread and gets more people into cinemas to experience the spellbinding trailer, as well as see Spider-Man: No Way Home multiple times.

More: Marvel’s Phase 4 Multiverse Is Already A Mess

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