Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness TV Spot Confirms A Big Cameo

Everyone who's ever paid close attention to various Marvel press circuits over the years is definitely aware of the fabled "Marvel snipers" waiting in the wings, ready to unleash the full might of Disney's firepower against anyone who might be tempted to give away state secrets concerning movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — even (especially?) if those poor victims include their own actors. Well, all of those commandos must be taking a nap during this final stretch leading up to "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," because Marvel's own marketing department has apparently gone rogue and filled their final trailers and TV spots with all sorts of cameo reveals, giving away the game only a week before release.

Just a few days ago, we received spoken confirmation of a certain group of comic book figures who will be imprisoning Doctor Strange at some point during the events of the sequel. Now, well, Marvel has gone ahead and stopped just short of outright giving it away that a certain other famous Marvel character — whose identity I will strive to keep under wraps for another few sentences, giving any second-guessing fans who may be reading this another chance to skedaddle before it's too late — may be making an appearance in this particular sequence (and maybe others?) as well.

Seriously, we've had plenty of hints in the past as to this particular reveal, but this latest TV spot certainly feels like the biggest and most outright acknowledgement yet. You have one last chance to turn back! I'll see everyone else a little further below.

"We will see what kind of Doctor Strange you are."

The Illuminati! Captain Carter flying around in some sort of fancy, "The Rocketeer"-styled jetpack! Oh, and a glimpse of that certain recognizable wheelchair that, presumably, holds a certain X-Men voiced by Patrick Stewart, as well. Ho hum, just another adventure set in Marvel's unpredictable and cameo-heavy multiverse, am I right!

There's no telling just what kind of movie "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" will be and whether director Sam Raimi, a last-minute replacement for original director Scott Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill, will be able to banish any perception of the sequel being a bit of a mess. But boy, there's certainly going to be a ton of "Hey, I know that guy!" cameos for fans to freak out about during opening weekend! The glass half-full view of this would be that, if these seemingly game-changing appearances are being teased at this point, then the movie must be packing all sorts of unseen reveals and explosive secrets that the marketing hasn't even touched on. 

But, as you may know from reading me on /Film before, I'm a bit of a cynical grump. I'd like to believe that even our biggest and most spectacle-driven blockbusters can still manage to contain actual character-centric stories within all the larger-than-life chaos ... but it increasingly seems as if Marvel (and "Star Wars," for that matter) are pivoting more and more towards the laziness of self-referential Easter eggs and gimmicks. But that's just me!

In any case, the implications of some variant of Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier existing within the confines of the MCU are obvious and thrilling to the fans out there. Where "WandaVision" merely teased this possibility with the inclusion of Evan Peters' Quicksilver, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" just might turn those fan dreams into reality. The X-Men in the MCU, what a world! We'll find out for sure when the film comes to theaters on May 6, 2022.