At a brief 126 minutes including credits, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is one of the briefest Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbusters to come along in a while, but the end product doesn’t feel anywhere close to being rushed.
From the very first scene, Benedict Cumberbatch’s solo sequel moves at a brisk pace to power through a reality-bending story that travels to multiple different worlds, introduces several major new characters, drops in some jaw-dropping cameos, and functions as a standalone story that’s both contained and epic at the same time.
Given the extensive reshoots that occurred late last year, it’s obvious that plenty of footage will have been left on the cutting room floor dating right back to the very beginning of production, with director Sam Raimi admitting in an interview with Collider that there’s plenty of deleted footage out there that may yet see the light of day.
“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.”
The smart money would be on the excised scenes being includes as part of the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness home video release, or as a special feature when the spooky second chapter in the former surgeon’s story makes its way to Disney Plus after no doubt destroying the competition at the box office for the next few weeks.