Benedict Cumberbatch has said his Marvel Cinematic Universe character Doctor Strange is skipping the next big team up in Avengers Doomsday but will play a “central role” in its sequel Avengers Secret Wars.
Speaking to Variety, Cumberbatch said “f**k it” after realising he’d dropped a spoiler and divulged more about his character’s role in the upcoming films. “He’s quite central to where things might go,” he said before revealing there’s a third standalone Doctor Strange planned too.
“They are very open to discussing where we go next,” Cumberbatch said. “Who do you want to write and direct the next one? What part of the comic lore do you want to explore so that Strange can keep evolving? He’s a very rich character to play. He’s a complex, contradictory, troubled human who’s got these extraordinary abilities, so there’s potent stuff to mess about with.”
As for his skipping Avengers Doomsday, Cumberbatch said it’s because of “the character not aligning with this part of the story.” This next Avengers film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom and reportedly Chris Evans too, though very little else is known about it as of yet.
Former Avengers directors the Russo Brothers are leading the film though, and it will seemingly continue the multiverse shenanigans with Hayley Atwell’s Agent Carter also reportedly set to appear.
In the shorter term, Phase 6 of the MCU kicks off with this July’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Avengers Doomsday comes out May 1, 2026, and Avengers Secret Wars launches May 7, 2027.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
