- Avengers: Doomsday won’t feature Doctor Strange, according to the actor who plays him
- Benedict Cumberbatch accidentally revealed that he isn’t part of the Marvel movie’s ensemble
- Marvel hasn’t officially commented on Cumberbatch’s slip-up
Benedict Cumberbatch has accidentally revealed that he won’t appear as Doctor Strange in Avengers: Doomsday.
Speaking to Variety, the British star let slip that he isn’t involved in the highly anticipated Marvel movie, which is due out in May 2026. Cumberbatch, then, won’t be lining up alongside many of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Avengers 5.
It’s unclear what led to Cumberbatch’s faux-pas but, after the Doctor Strange actor surprisingly revealed that he isn’t part of the film’s ensemble cast, he simply reacted by saying: “Is that a spoiler? F*** it!”
Fans of the Sorcerer Supreme shouldn’t fret about his potential absence from Avengers: Secret Wars, which will cap the Marvel Multiverse Saga in May 2027. Indeed, Cumberbatch also told Variety that Stephen Strange is “in a lot” of Avengers 6, before adding: “He’s quite central to where things might go. 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.”
Marvel hasn’t officially commented on Cumberbatch unexpectedly revealing that Strange won’t be part of Avengers 5. Nonetheless, I’ve reached out to my Marvel contacts for a statement on the matter, and I’ll report back if I receive a response.
Why isn’t Doctor Strange going to be in Avengers: Doomsday?
Apart from Cumberbatch telling Variety that “the character [does] not align with this part of the story [Avengers 5]”, we don’t know. However, given how his last solo movie – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – ended, we can speculate on his absence from the Marvel Phase 6 flick. You can read a detailed account of what happened in my Doctor Strange 2 ending explained piece, or read on for a full albeit abridged spoiler-filled explanation below.
At the end of Doctor Strange 2, the Master of the Mystic Arts took a walk on the cosmic and multiversal side (again) with fellow sorcerer Clea, who was briefly portrayed by Charlize Theron. She’d tracked him down on Earth to request his help in stopping an Incursion Event that he’d caused as part of events that play out in The Multiverse of Madness. Somewhat reluctantly, he agrees to aid her, with the pair stepping through a portal that seemingly leads to Dormammu’s domain, which we last saw in 2015’s Doctor Strange film.
If Strange and Clea are still trying to shut down whatever Incursion Event he created, it would explain why he won’t be around to help his fellow Avengers in Marvel’s next team-up movie. In it, they’ll take on Doomsday‘s primary villain, who was revealed to be Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom at San Diego Comic Con 2024.
Still, while Cumberbatch won’t be part of Doomsday‘s stacked cast roster, there are plenty of other big names attached to the project. The Fantastic Four’s Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach were confirmed to be appearing by Marvel chief Kevin Feige last year. Expect Marvel’s First Family to help try and defeat one of their most iconic foes, then, after starring in their first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie, which is titled The Fantastic Four: First Steps and arrives in theaters this July.
As for other individuals who may appear, Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson/Captain America and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man are among the many A-listers likely to show up. One actor who I didn’t expect to see, though, is Chris Evans, with the Marvel alumnus reportedly returning for a mystery role in Avengers: Doomsday. With the movie set to start shooting sometime in early 2025, we should prepare for more cast announcements and rumors to appear online in the weeks and months ahead.
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