The trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had more to its footage than meets the eye – and apparently, more than your ears knew they heard, as well. A new report reveals that the Doctor Strange 2 trailer includes a line of dialogue that had been deleted from Spider-Man: No Way Home – and it’s actually a line that seemed to have the utmost amount of importance for the events of Multiverse of Madness. The line question comes as Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is weighing Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) request to change the very nature of reality (that little thing…).
The trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness features Benedict Wong’s character Wong pleading with Doctor Strange to “don’t cast that spell” – a request we first heard him make in the early marketing materials of Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, the theatrical version of No Way Home never included this piece of dialogue from Wong, but here it is again in the Doctor Strange 2 trailer.
The question a lot of fans now have is if this line of spliced dialogue is just another example of Marvel movie marketing tricks – or something more. In any normal case, it would be easy to compare this example to the multiple other Marvel Cinematic Universe films that have shown scenes in trailers that were deleted from the theatrical cut or entire shots that were altered and featured in trailers purely for the sake of being smokescreen for real events (like the infamous Avengers: Infinity War slow-mo team run shot, or Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s scaled-down end fight footage).
However, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a different beast. First, every piece of marketing material for the film – from posters to trailers to leaks – points to director Sam Raimi taking us on a wild trip through the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse. A trip that could have a lot of wild stops in alternate realities. In the theatrical cut of Spider-Man: No Way Home Wong simply avoids Strange’s actions (he literally says “Leave me out of it”), but in another reality maybe he challenges his friend before things go haywire.
Or perhaps Wong’s recycled line could be a clue of someone in Multiverse of Madness conjuring a spell that shouldn’t be cast. With Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Mordo, and even an “Evil Strange” all on the gameboard, magical mayhem could come from any direction. 0COMMENTS
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now in theaters. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be in theaters on May 6th.