Benedict Cumberbatch Teases Major Doctor Strange Return in the MCU's Next Chapter
Doctor Strange isn’t done casting spells just yet. Benedict Cumberbatch is teasing a major update on the Sorcerer Supreme’s MCU future, hinting at what comes after his multiverse-hopping run from Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame to Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Doctor Strange is not done messing with reality. Benedict Cumberbatch is back to teasing where Stephen Strange pops up next in the MCU, and yeah, it sounds like we will be seeing the Cloak of Levitation again sooner rather than later.
Quick refresher: Cumberbatch has been playing Marvel’s resident sorcerer since 2016, and he hasn’t exactly been shy about crossovers. Beyond his two solo outings, he’s crashed everything from Avengers movies to a Spider-Man multiverse crisis, and he’s even voiced alternate Stranges in animation. More on that below.
"I have more than a sense of where he’s heading now," Cumberbatch told Collider, adding that fans "definitely will" see him again.
That’s the straightforward part. The more tantalizing bit came on the SmartLess podcast, where Cumberbatch dropped this hint:
"There are other huge commitments involving cloaks floating about [next year]."
Okay, so what does that actually point to? The most obvious read is Avengers: Secret Wars. That one is expected to start filming next summer, and if you’re talking "huge commitments" and "cloaks," Strange is a top contender. There’s a less exciting alternative here: he could be talking about Avengers: Doomsday-related work (think reshoots) landing in 2026. Possible, sure, but the timing and the phrasing make Secret Wars feel like the safer bet.
To be clear, Marvel hasn’t officially confirmed Cumberbatch for either Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars yet. Fans have connected the dots anyway, especially since Strange is a key player in Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic’s Secret Wars comics. Plot-wise, both films are still in the vault for now.
Release dates, as of today:
- Avengers: Doomsday – December 18, 2026 (Phase 6)
- Avengers: Secret Wars – December 17, 2027
If you’re tracking Strange’s MCU footprint so far, here’s the path he’s cut through the multiverse and beyond:
Doctor Strange (2016) kicked things off, followed by cameos and team-ups in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). On top of that, Cumberbatch has voiced multiple Strange variants in Marvel’s What If…? animated series.
Bottom line: Cumberbatch knows where Strange is headed, he’s basically saying we’ll see him, and the calendar lines up with Secret Wars. It’s not official yet, but the cloak keeps floating into the conversation for a reason.