Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the most multiverse-heavy Marvel Cinematic Universe movie yet, but it strangely omits one key trick that other Marvel movies and TV shows that use the multiverse employ. In contrast to other MCU projects that feature the multiverse like Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness ignores this trick entirely. However, there are a few good reasons why that are specific to Doctor Stephen Strange's actor, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Sam Raimi's direction of the movie.
Benedict Cumberbatch portrays all versions of Doctor Strange in Multiverse of Madness, including Defender Strange, Sinister Strange, and Earth-838's Supreme Strange. This stands in contrast to Loki, where the god of mischief's variants look very different from one another and are played by different actors. This includes Sylvie, a female Loki variant played by Sophia Di Martino, a child Loki known as Kid Loki played by Jack Veal, and an Alligator Loki. Similarly, though not as extreme, Spider-Man: No Way Home also has different versions of Spider-Man played by different actors. These include Tom Holland's MCU Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, and Tobey Maguire's Raimi trilogy Spider-Man.
At first glance, it seems odd that Benedict Cumberbatch portrays all versions of Doctor Strange in a story about the multiverse. Despite coming from different universes, the Doctor Stranges are all pretty similar, with only minor changes to their costume, hair, and make up to distinguish between them. Given that the film revolves around the multiverse as its core plot point, it is odd that Sam Raimi did not cast other actors to portray Strange's variants, particularly as this could have allowed him to have some fun casting high-profile actors for short cameo scenes, just as he did with John Krasinski as Reed Richards / Mr Fantastic. Yet, in an infinite number of universes, there are undoubtedly countless variants of Stephen Strange who look identical.
Though Loki and Sylvie may have many different variants, this principle stands true in Loki. President Loki looks identical to regular Loki (as he is played by Tom Hiddleston), proving that there are multiple versions of the characters who look the same and do not need to be played by different actors to be identified as different variants.
Having Cumberbatch portray all versions of Doctor Strange also makes sense from a plot perspective. As Doctor Strange 2 is all about the magical avenger working through his issues, including his eternal love for Christine Palmer, it makes sense that the actions of variants who look just like him would impact his decisions, such as when he saves America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), learning from Defender Strange's mistake to try and sacrifice her to defeat Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). This would not have been as effective if Cumberbatch had not portrayed all of Doctor Strange's variants, even Supreme Strange, who is only briefly seen being executed by the Illuminati. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness works despite having four Stranges who look identical, both in terms of MCU continuity and the narrative journey of its own plot.
