Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse almost featured Doctor Strange
The Sorcerer Supreme almost entered another movie universe
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange seems finally to be getting a sequel after years of doubt – but if things had worked out a little differently, we could have been seeing him in cinemas this very month.
The team behind new animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse have revealed that in an early draft a new version of Doctor Strange was part of their plot, popping up at the end to set up a possible sequel idea.
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“The first draft ended with (Strange),” co-writer Phil Lord told Den of Geek.
“It ended with him saying, ‘OK, I have some things to tell you...’ It was the first draft, like three years ago. It ended with Doctor Strange.
“Literally, the last frame was Doctor Strange, going, ‘Hello.’”
In the end, the team went in a different direction for the film’s final moments – and the almost-appearance of Doctor Strange wasn’t the only cool idea they left on the cutting room floor, as they went on to explain.
"There were many thoughts about where we could put Tobey Maguire and others," director Rodney Rothman said, revealing that plans had existed to include the live-action Spider-Men in the movie’s cast (most notably by having Maguire voice the older Spider-Man played by Jake Johnson in the finished film).
"I think after this film, those thoughts might have a little more traction,” Rothman continued.
"Before this movie, and introducing the idea of the Spider-Verse to the audience, I think everybody was afraid that it would just really confuse people. But wow, it would have been fun."
Still, now that a sequel is reportedly in the works maybe they’ll get their chance after all…
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is in UK cinemas now
