AMC Theaters officially received its theater merch for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is designed after a major prop from Spider-Man: No Way Home.
A photo shared on Reddit revealed that popcorn tubs modeled after Doctor Strange's magic box from Spider-Man: No Way Home have arrived at AMC Theaters set to screen the upcoming sequel. In the Spidey threequel, the box was intended to be used by Doctor Strange to send the villains (Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Sandman, Electro and the Lizard) back to their respective universes.
Spider-Man: No Way Home effectively broke the multiverse open, setting the stage for Multiverse of Madness, which wrapped extensive reshoots in January 2021. The additional material was helmed by director Sam Raimi and Loki writer Michael Waldron. Raimi took over directorial duties from Scott Derrickson, who directed the first film and departed the sequel over creative differences. Following the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it was reported that Multiverse of Madness would have "more fun with the multiverse," with reshoots for the film including even more cameos and character introductions than originally intended.
In a recent interview, Multiverse of Madness star Benedict Cumberbatch shared his belief that the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film would rival the success of No Way Home. "It's a big, big movie," Cumberbatch said. "It's going to be an absolute riot. And if it brings off the level of ambition it's got, we're going to have a success on the level of Spidey. There you go, I'll put my flag in the sand."
Cumberbatch has commented on the scale of the production as well, 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." Notably, MCU fans expect the Illuminati to make its long-awaited debut in the film.
According to box office analysts, early ticket sales for Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have already surpassed those of Warner Bros. and DC Films' The Batman, making the MCU film "the second biggest non-Avengers pre-sale start." Currently, the Doctor Strange sequel is now projected to earn around $200 million in its first weekend in theaters.
The first trailer for Multiverse of Madness teased everything that Phase 4 of the MCU has been headed towards, depicting not only a possible team-up between Doctor Strange, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Wong, but the MCU debut of America Chavez/Miss America. Multiverse of Madness will pick up after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home and tie directly into two of Marvel's Disney+ series, WandaVision and Loki, both of which dealt heavily with the multiverse.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness premieres in theaters on May 6, 2022.
Source: Reddit