Doctor Strange won’t be in Avengers: Doomsday, says Benedict Cumberbatch

Avengers: Doomsday is still more than a year away, but it’s not too early to learn a few of the movie’s secrets. For instance, Doctor Strange won’t be appearing in this next Avengers film, apparently. Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch revealed this fact during an interview with Variety, which he immediately realized might be a spoiler, before quickly overcoming his fears with a succinct, “fuck it.”

But don’t worry, Benedict, it’s probably not really a spoiler. After all, who could possibly be surprised at the news that not every Avenger was going to appear in the next team-up movie? The universe has (conservatively) 20 semi-important characters at this point. To fit them all in the entire film would be a montage of introductions with one line each — and it would still be over three hours.

Another reason it isn’t a spoiler is because of what else Cumberbatch revealed in the interview: Strange will be back. In fact, he’ll be back more than once. For one thing, Cumberbatch has reported that his MCU character is in “a lot” of Avengers: Secret War, so it’s not like this world is done with Strange yet, he just doesn’t fit into the first film’s plot. More importantly, Doctor Strange is also getting a third standalone film, so his Avengers absence isn’t a sign of his MCU future.

But even if this isn’t a spoiler, it does provide some interesting insight into the potential plot of Doomsday. For instance, we certainly know that Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom won’t be encountering the Avengers all at once. Instead, it seems like the movies will be meting out its immense cast over the first two films.