Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was originally 35 minutes longer, director Sam Raimi has revealed.
Following on from the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Marvel sequel sees Benedict Cumberbatch's titular sorcerer try to protect teenager America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) from those keen to steal her dimension-hopping powers. Its runtime comes in at 125 minutes, making it the shortest film in the franchise since Captain Marvel in 2019, which is 2 hours and 4 minutes.
It's been known for quite some time that Doctor Strange 2 re-filmed a lot of scenes following its test screenings. In a new interview with Collider, Raimi was asked about the earlier version of the film, and how much of it was cut despite them essentially having more footage due to the do-overs.
"It was probably like two hours and 40 minutes, and it slowly came down, even though we did the reshoots," the Evil Dead filmmaker recalled. "We took out material even though the reshoots went in. So, it slowly got down to about two hours and five minutes is the total.
"I'm trying to remember what Marvel is including in the deleted scenes. It's really going to be their decision, but I know that there are at least two or three deleted scenes that will be included. I don't know the full extent of them though."
One thing the movie made sure to squeeze in was plenty of cameos, all of which Raimi hopes "titillate the fans and surprise them." He added that the team behind the film wanted "to make them gasp, to give them, not exactly what they expected, but something that they would love."
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is out now. If you've seen the new movie, then be sure to check out our explainers on:
- Doctor Strange 2 ending explained
- Doctor Strange 2 post-credits scenes explained
- The Illuminati in Doctor Strange 2, listed and explained
- Our guide to Marvel Phase 4
- The rumored Doctor Strange cameos that never came true
- All the Doctor Strange 2 Easter eggs listed
- Where does Doctor Strange 2 fit on the Marvel timeline?
- Our full WandaVision recap
- When is Doctor Strange 2 on Disney Plus?
