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Sorry Doctor Strange fans, it's going to be a minute until you see your favorite Sorcerer Supreme on the big screen again. At least, that's the way actor Benedict Cumberbatch tells it. According to the Sherlock actor, Stephen Strange won't be passing out portals at all in 2026's upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. Don't get too upset about it, though - it seems he'll be bringing the magic back come 2027's Secret Wars.

Let's back up a bit - these quotes come from a recent tell-all that Cumberbatch did with Variety, posted to the site January 22. And when we say tell-all, we mean it - "Is that a spoiler?" the actor asked of what he himself was saying at one point in the conversation. He decided it was but, in his own words, "Fuck it!"

In accordance with... his shall we say, irreverent?... take on spoilers for his upcoming involvement in MCU projects, Cumberbatch dropped two huge pieces of news. Firstly, as we've described above, he confirmed that Doctor Strange will not be a part of the Avengers' 2026 outing, Doomsday, which will see them go up against the returning Robert Downey Jr. as the Master of Marvel Malevolence, Victor Von Doom.

Interestingly, there's a bit of Strange/Doom-swapping going on in Marvel Comics right now as well, as this summer's One World Under Doom sees the latter take the former's place as Sorcerer Supreme. Could it be that the MCU will follow suit, perhaps banishing Strange from the universe that Doom has come to conquer?

We're just speculating here, of course. Cumberbatch wasn't that forthcoming.

However, he was sure to include a glimmer of hope for fans of the magic-wielder right after announcing the character's hiatus, confirming that Doctor Strange will appear in the follow-up movie Avengers: Secret Wars. In fact, Cumberbatch says the character is "quite central to where things might go," which is as encouraging as it is frustratingly vague to the Strange-heads out there.

Before moving on from the MCU topic, Cumberbatch did touch on a different movie fans have been hoping to see him in - that is, the as-of-yet unconfirmed Doctor Strange 3.

"[Marvel Studios] are very open to discussing where we go next," Cumberbatch said of a potential third entry to the Doctor Strange-centric film saga, "Who do you want to write and direct the next one? What part of the comic lore do you want to explore so that Strange can keep evolving? He’s a very rich character to play. He’s a complex, contradictory, troubled human who’s got these extraordinary abilities, so there’s potent stuff to mess about with."

It's true, Benedict. We're just a tad bummed we won't be messing about with that potent stuff for another 2 years.

Avengers: Doomsday comes to theaters (sans Doctor Strange) May 1, 2026.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters