Fans were convinced that Benedict Cumberbatch was going to drop in for a Doctor Strange cameo in the season finale of WandaVision in order to set up In The Multiverse of Madness, but there was no sign of the Sorcerer Supreme when the episode aired.
Cumberbatch seemed reluctant to speak about his absence in subsequent interviews, and it looks like we now know why: Strange was originally going to appear before being written out.
During an interview with Rolling Stone (via MovieWeb), Kevin Feige confirmed that the plan was for the good Doctor to intervene and help Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) restore Westview to normal by removing the Hex, and they'd actually closed a deal with Cumberbatch to reprise the role. However, they ultimately decided to go a different route, and rewrites were made to the Disney+ series and the Doctor Strange sequel.
"Some people might say, 'Oh, it would've been so cool to see Doctor Strange. But It would have taken away from Wanda," explained Feige when asked why plans were altered. "We didn't want the end of the show to be commoditized to go to the next movie - here's the white guy, 'Let me show you how power works."
Apparently, those mysterious commercials that aired in each episode were initially conceived as Strange sending messages to Wanda in an attempt to break through to her make-believe reality.
As cool as a Doctor Strange cameo would have been, it's hard to argue with Feige's rationalization that it would have detracted from Wanda's story to some extent.
Were you guys disappointed when Cumberbatch didn't feature in the finale of WandaVision? Drop us a comment down below.
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