The upcoming Doctor Strange sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, looks to feature more than one version of its eponymous hero. The first official trailer for the movie came attached to the credits of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and it's possible that Disney will release another Doctor Strange trailer during the 2022 Super Bowl. The existing trailer raises a lot of interesting questions, one of which is why there seem to be multiple Doctor Stranges.

Marvel's Phase 4 plan involves building up a deeper bench of heroes and storylines, and a large part of this comes from the ever-expanding world the MCU's heroes are a part of. This is where the multiverse concept from which Doctor Strange 2 takes its name comes into play. Now, in addition to being set in different time periods on Earth and across the known universe, MCU content is also drawing in characters and stories from alternate realities. While this new direction has the potential to become extremely complicated and confusing, Marvel is doing a decent job so far, with No Way Home's multiverse storyline successfully bringing together three parallel versions of Spider-Man into a single film.

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The reason behind the duplicate Doctor Stranges in Multiverse of Madness comes down to the film's title, and what it will presumably be about. As one of the MCU's biggest inter-dimensional powerhouses to date, as well as the person responsible for No Way Home's multiverse fiasco, Doctor Strange is perfectly poised to be the character who blows Phase 4's multiple realities wide open. With a storyline dedicated to exploring the nature and dangers of parallel universes, it's almost obvious that Multiverse of Madness will see multiple versions of Strange from different realities.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with Rachel McAdams, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Xochitl Gomez.

Other Marvel projects have already begun developing alternate realities and character variants, such as Loki and What If...?, with the latter even introducing a version of Doctor Strange (Evil Strange, or Strange Supreme) that could be the one seen in the No Way Home trailer. Doctor Strange 2 likely expands What If...?'s multiverse even further, offering a perfect explanation for why there are more than one Stranges in the trailer. Due to the infinite possibilities afforded by a multiverse, there's technically no end to the permutations of Doctor Strange (or any other MCU character) that could exist, and some may not even look like Benedict Cumberbatch. Most likely, however, Multiverse of Madness will try to keep things relatively coherent to avoid alienating audiences.

Aside from big-picture MCU Phase 4 logistics, there are other narrative reasons for Multiverse of Madness to feature different versions of its main character. A big one is the fact that Doctor Strange appears depressed after Avengers: Endgame's Blip, the five-year period in which half the world ceased to exist. As one of those who "blipped," Strange's life has been drastically altered, and he may be struggling to find his way back to the person he once was. From a storytelling point of view, forcing him to encounter better and worse versions of himself could be a very compelling way to give Strange the opportunity for self-reflection he needs. Of course, the last time two Stranges interacted in What If...? episode 4, the original version of Stephen Strange was consumed by Evil Strange, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming film. Regardless of how it ends, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will almost certainly be a wild ride because of its multiple Doctor Stranges.

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