According to the Brazilian ticketing website, Ingresso, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will run 148 minutes long, which is the same length as No Way Home. This would imply that Cumberbatch wasn’t lying that the Doctor Strange sequel will at least match MCU’s most recent big-screen outing in runtime, ultimately a sign of good things to come. Doctor Strange 2 promises to pick up exactly where No Way Home left off, with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker asking Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange to erase any memory of Peter Parker’s existence from everyone. After opening the metaphorical and literal door to the universe, the Doctor Strange sequel will deal with the sequences of the former Sorcerer Supreme’s tampering with the little-known concept that is the multiverse. Naturally, fans believed that the upcoming MCU film is going to have plenty of cameos and the 148-minute runtime helps prove that. A lengthy runtime doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but if Multiverse of Madness does run nearly two-and-a-half hours, the MCU film will have enough time to do everything that it needs to do without rushing. For context, if we believe the listing, only two MCU films will be longer than Cumberbatch’s second solo MCU outing: Avengers: Infinity War at 2 hours and 29 minutes and Avengers: Endgame at 3 hours and 1 minute. The 28th Marvel Cinematic Universe film will also be tied with last year’s No Way Home for the third-longest MCU film ever. When you consider that the other MCU films that ran as long all breached $1 billion at the global box office, the pressure is on Sam Raimi to make sure that his MCU debut delivers. For what it’s worth, the sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange is the culmination of the two best MCU shows on Disney+ so far: WandaVision and Loki, on top of No Way Home. In addition, the Super Bowl LVI trailer for Multiverse of Madness “confirmed” that Patrick Stewart will reprise his role as Professor X from Fox’s X-Men films, a small detail that was corroborated by Empire Magazine. With so much going on for just one film, a lengthy runtime is necessary. Hopefully, Doctor Strange 2 juggles all its different plots and characters to create a cohesive story worthy of all the hype. Speaking of hype, Marvel fans have a lot to look forward to in the next few months. Before Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness premieres on May 6, audiences can check out Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight on Disney+ starting on March 30. Then, once Cumberbatch’s multiversal affair is done with its presumably extended theatrical run, Ms. Marvel will hit Disney’s popular streaming service on June 8 followed by Chris Hemsworth’s fourth solo outing as Thor Odinson in Thor: Love and Thunder in theaters on July 8.
