The runtime for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is much shorter than originally reported.According to Erik Davis, the Doctor Strange sequel will run for two hours and six minutes (or 126 minutes), as opposed to the two hours and 28 minutes that was reported earlier in March. This new runtime puts Multiverse of Madness on par with some of the earlier films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as 2008's Iron Man, which also ran for 126 minutes.
It was expected that the runtime for Multiverse of Madness would rival Spider-Man: No Way Home, which clocked in at two hours and 28 minutes and also dealt heavily with the Multiverse. That would have made Multiverse of Madness the MCU's fourth-longest movie behind Avengers: Infinity War, Eternals and Avengers: Endgame, which is fitting for a movie with so much ground to cover. Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Doctor Strange, has even commented on the scale of the production, stating that he was not entirely sure if the sequel was really "his" movie.
"There's a lot of stuff going on in it," he said. "It's like, do I have a character arc in this? Is it working? No, there's great stuff for me to do. It's very busy. It's called The Multiverse of Madness, and it's bonkers." Multiverse of Madness will not only pick up after the events of No Way Home but will tie directly into two of Marvel's Disney+ series, WandaVision and Loki, both of which dealt heavily with the Multiverse. It will also see the MCU debut of America Chavez/Miss America (Xochitl Gomez) and the return of Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch.
Multiverse of Madness recently wrapped extensive reshoots, which were described as "significant" when they began in November 2021. The additional material was helmed by director Sam Raimi and writer Michael Waldron, who served as head writer for Loki. Raimi took over directorial duties from Scott Derrickson, who directed the first film and departed the sequel over creative differences.
A previous report stated that those reshoots would include even more cameos and character introductions than originally intended. While the characters themselves haven't been confirmed, sources report that the film will have "more fun with the multiverse" following the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Trailers for the film have featured an appearance from Patrick Stewart as Professor X, seemingly as part of the Illuminati, and promotional material has teased an appearance from Captain Carter, who was introduced in Marvel's What If...? series.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently slated to release on May 6, 2022.
Source: Twitter