Doctor Strange 2 Super Bowl trailer teases the return of a beloved X-Men character

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Marvel Studios debuted the full official trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness during Super Bowl LVI, offering an even more substantial look at the upcoming film than we got from Spider-Man: No Way Home's post-credits sequence. Hoping for more MCU teasers in 2023? Make sure you know how to watch Super Bowl 2023.

Doctor Strange 2 sees the Sorcerer Supreme (once again played by Benedict Cumberbatch) come face to face with the consequences of his actions in No Way Home, which saw him meddle with reality in ways he did not fully understand.

You can check out the mysterious and action-packed Super Bowl trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness below.

Analysis: is that who we think it is?

Given the cryptic nature of the trailer above, it's unclear just what we have in store for us in the upcoming film, however, we do believe that Stephen's messing with reality has led to the arrival of an evil version of Doctor Strange himself.

This is foreshadowed in the trailer by Wong (Benedict Wong), who tells Strange that "You opened the doorway between universes, and we don't know who or what will walk through it."

What we do know for sure is that this dilemma leads Strange to seek counsel from Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), who has some experience when it comes to messing with reality, as seen in WandaVision.

Of course, Wanda isn't the only person Stephen talks to about the Multiverse: the trailer sees the return of Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who confronts Strange about his actions, telling him "your desecration of reality will not go unpunished."

This sees Stephen taken away in restraints to stand before a council of mysterious figures, leading to what could be one of the most explosive and exciting developments in the MCU to date, in which a (mostly off-screen) character is heard saying "We should tell him the truth."

Now, this is completely unconfirmed at this stage, but to our ears, it sounds like the unmistakable voice of Sir Patrick Stewart, leading us to assume the character is none other than Professor Charles Xavier, making his MCU debut.

Does this mean the X-Men are finally making a proper debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? WandaVision already saw Evan Peters' version of Quicksilver appear in the MCU, although given that it was all part of a fabricated reality, you could easily write that off as a cheeky cameo.

That said, we're dealing with the Multiverse this time around, and we've already seen characters outside of established canon filter into the MCU, most notably in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

It's all guesswork at this point, but we'll find out for sure when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness releases in theatres on May 6, 2022. 

Stephen Lambrechts
Senior Journalist, Phones and Entertainment

Stephen primarily covers phones and entertainment for TechRadar's Australian team, and has written professionally across the categories of tech, film, television and gaming in both print and online for over a decade. He's obsessed with smartphones, televisions, consoles and gaming PCs, and has a deep-seated desire to consume all forms of media at the highest quality possible. 

He's also likely to talk a person’s ear off at the mere mention of Android, cats, retro sneaker releases, travelling and physical media, such as vinyl and boutique Blu-ray releases. Right now, he's most excited about QD-OLED technology, The Batman and Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga.

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