Doctor Strange Is Skipping Avengers: Doomsday, But Will Portal Back in for Secret Wars

With Infinity War and Endgame firmly in the rear-view mirror, there’s now a sort of established expectation of what the run-up to a new Avengers movie is going to be like: mostly like that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate “Everyone Is Here!” meme, but with superhero actors. So far, Doomsday has proved to be no exception to that, collecting up former Avengers stars thought done with the MCU like they’re the latest batch of infinity stones. But there’s only been no exception so far.

That mostly comes thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch, who confirmed today in a new profile with Variety that Doctor Strange will not be donning his magical cape for Avengers: Doomsday next year. “Is that a spoiler,” the actor wondered, before promptly adding “Fuck it!”

According to Cumberbatch, Strange originally factored into the movie while it was still Kang Dynasty, but the radical overhaul of Marvel’s plans that came after the studio cut ties with actor Jonathan Majors after he was charged with reckless assault in late 2023 changed things around. And have no fear, Sorcerer Supreme fans: while Strange is skipping out Doomsday, he has a major role in the follow up film Secret Wars, with Cumberbatch adding that ““He’s quite central to where things might go.”

That might not be the end of his time in the MCU either. “They are very open to discussing where we go next,” Cumberbatch teased. “‘Who do you want to write and direct the next one? What part of the comic lore do you want to explore so that Strange can keep evolving?’ 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.”

It’s understandable that Avengers: Doomsday won’t have everyone in it, of course—at this point in the MCU’s lifespan that kind of thing is infeasible. But it is interesting to see just how much Marvel’s plans were shifted by the ousting of Kang from the proceedings. Time will tell who also is going to have to sit out Doomsday as we get closer to its May 2026 release date.

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