Doctor Strange was meant to appear in “WandaVision” — but the decision was made to cut him in order to keep the focus on Wanda, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently told Rolling Stone.
Rumors of Doctor Stange in ‘WandaVision’
There had been rumors since production of “WandaVision” began that Doctor Strange would show up, especially since Wanda is expected to join him in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”
“WandaVision” showrunner Jac Schaeffer told Deadline the cameo didn’t happen because that’s just how things went.
- “I heart Doctor Strange just like anybody,” she told Deadline. “Yeah, it’s one of those things, that’s how the chips fell, that’s how the cookie crumbled, is what I will say, but I look forward to seeing him on screen with Wanda in ‘Doctor Strange 2.’”
Why Doctor Strange didn’t appear
Feige told Rolling Stone that Marvel signed Benedict Cumberbatch to a small deal that would have included an appearance in “WandaVision.” But Marvel wrote him out of the script.
- “Some people might say, ‘Oh, it would’ve been so cool to see Doctor Strange,’” says Feige. “But it would have taken away from Wanda, which is what we didn’t want to do. We didn’t want the end of the show to be commoditized to go to the next movie — here’s the white guy, ‘Let me show you how power works.’”
There were some different ideas thrown around about how to include Doctor Strange in the show, too. For example, Doctor Strange would have been sending messages to Wanda through the commercial seen in the show.
- There was also a suggestion to include Doctor Strange in one of the commercials.
Feige said parts of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” will now be rewritten to deal with the lack of a cameo.
Marvel, he said, is “a wonderful combination of very dedicated coordination, and chaos. Chaos magic.”