The show must go on! As Hollywood has gone dark amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it has left many films that were in various stages of production in limbo. Marvel Studios is hoping for a superhero miracle that their sequel, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, will be able to make their planned June date to begin filming because pre-production on the film has continued, despite the coronavirus.
According to "Variety", the DOCTOR STRANGE sequel has stuck to its pre-production schedule, albeit, remotely. Everyone involved in the pre-production phase has been working from home and they're all hopeful that they can still begin filming in June as planned. At the helm, is presumably Sam Raimi who was rumored to have replaced Scott Derrickson although an official announcement on that has never been made. Michael Waldron, who recently signed on as head writer of Marvel's Disney+ series, Loki, has been employed to do a rewrite on the DOCTOR STRANGE script which will find Elizabeth Olsen co-starring alongside Benedict Cumberbatch as Scarlett Witch, in a film that allegedly has leanings towards the horror genre which will be a first for the MCU.
It comes as no surprise that Marvel is trying to maintain their set schedule because they have meticulously crafted out the trajectory of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and virus or no virus, they're going to do their best to make it happen. The sequel can't be delayed significantly if the movie’s story is crucially intertwined with the release of the Disney+ series WandaVision, which is set to premiere in December and also features Olsen. Marvel is not immune to release schedule woes, especially since the pandemic took hold. Filming on SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS was suspended in Australia and that film is set for release after DOCTOR STRANGE 2. The May 1st release of BLACK WIDOW has also been postponed and one would think it will need to come out before ETERNALS, which is still attached to a release date in November, although that may change given the circumstances.
Do YOU think DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS will still make its June start date? As of now, the sequel is set to hit screens on May 7, 2021.