The Marvel Cinematic Universe is expanding rapidly. The end of Loki season 1 and the death of Kang has given birth to a multiverse where everything and anything is possible. Spider-Man: No Way Home has already shown us a little of how this chaos will impact Marvel Phase 4, but Doctor Strange 2 has promised an entire multiverse of madness.
But what does that mean? Well, if the internet scuttlebutt is going to be believed, it’s going to mean a lot of different cameos from the MCU proper, realities we’ve only seen briefly in What if…?, and even a few old faces we never thought we’d see again.
Normally we’d dismiss these rumours as gossip and tittle-tattle. Still, Spider-Man’s most recent adventure has proven Marvel Studios aren’t afraid to indulge in a little bit of fan service, bringing back old favourites like Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Willem Dafoe and the other old Spider-Man villains. We know that Scarlet Witch and America Chavez are definitely in the film but who else is rumoured to make a cameo in Doctor Strange 2?
Who’s rumoured to cameo in Doctor Strange 2?
- Ghost Rider
- Captain Carter
- Loki
- Spider-Man
- Professor X
- Iron Man
Ghost Rider
There have been whispers that Marvel wants to take another crack at Ghost Rider for a while now. Previously we’ve seen Nicolas Cage play the Johnny Blaze incarnation of the demonic hothead. Gabriel Luna, meanwhile, played the new Robbie Reyes version of the character in the MCU adjacent TV series Agents of SHIELD.
According to Atlanta Filming, Doctor Strange 2 will see the Bleeker street magician free the Spirit of Vengeance from a “spiritual prison”. Of all the rumoured cameos, this one seems to us the most likely, considering both Strange and Ghost Rider share a common magical origin.
Captain Carter
Captain Carter debuted in the Disney Plus animated series What If…? where we saw her battle Hydra and join Uatu’s multiversal Avengers. This Peggy Carter variant received the super-soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers and is her universe’s version of the star-spangled man with a plan, Captain America.
Rumours of her making an appearance in Doctor Strange 2 have been going around since her debut. Still, they’ve only grown in volume since What If…? director Bryan Andrews told THR he wanted to see Hayley Atwell do a live-action movie as Captain Carter.
A recently revealed Doctor Strange poster seems to show a fragment of Carter’s shield. It’s a long way from confirmed but this one seems very likely at this point.
Loki
Loki’s sort of the reason why the Marvel multiverse is in such a state – with a bit of help from Wanda and Spider-Man. It, therefore, makes sense – in the minds of fans at least – that he make an appearance in Doctor Strange 2.
The Hollywood Reporter has claimed Tom Hiddleston is expected to appear in Multiverse of Madness, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire)
Tobey Maguire’s ‘Peter 2’ will only have been back in his universe for a few months before he’s summoned back to the MCU according to some scoopers.
There’s not a lot of proof for this one beyond director Sam Raimi being the one who helmed Maguire’s Spider-Man movies. This one seems unlikely in our view. While it’d be fun to see Maguire once again suit up, it would rob No Way Home of what made it special.
Professor X (Patrick Stewart)
Patrick Stewart has been rumoured to reprise the role of Professor X in Multiverse of Madness, along with other X-Men characters. This particular report has basically been confirmed by the second Doctor Strange 2 teaser which teased us with someone who sounded suspiciously like Patrick Stewart.
This is probably the only cameo on this list we wouldn’t want to see happen. The X-Men timeline is a mess, and trying to squeeze in a jaunt to the MCU may prove the breaking point. After his poignant death in Logan, does anyone really want to see this particular version of Xavier again?
Iron Man (Tom Cruise)
OK, we’re now totally lost in the mystical realm of speculation and scooper vagueries. There are rumours, however, that Tom Cruise will be playing an Iron Man variant in Doctor Strange 2. Why Iron Man? Well, because Cruise was Marvel’s first choice to play Tony Stark, so it would be a fun nod to what could have been.
Considering Cruise’s schedule, though, we think this one’s about as realistic as all those rumours we’ve seen online about John Krasinski making an appearance as Mister Fantastic. In fact, it may be good advice to take all of these rumours with a particularly generous pinch of salt