Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness star Benedict Cumberbatch has been further hyping up the events to come, teasing the head-spinning insanity of the upcoming Marvel sequel. In a new interview with Empire, Cumberbatch, who reprises the title role of the MCU magician in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, attributes the movie’s mayhem to the hiring of Evil Dead director Sam Raimi, who took over from director Scott Derickson who dropped out over creative differences.

“Once it became Sam, it was always about making it a Sam Raimi picture. Your head’s going to be spun.”

The trailer released during last weekend’s Super Bowl wonderfully demonstrated just how “spun” all of our heads are going to be. Teasing all manner of hugely exciting cameos, including Mister Fantastic, Namor and possibly even Patrick Stewart’s return as Professor X, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will find The Master of the Mystic Arts struggling to contain the eroding multiverse.

Unleashing the multiverse on the Marvel Cinematic Universe has opened up the franchise to all sorts of opportunities, with the recent Spider-Man: No Way Home showing just how lucrative these opportunities can be. Before the release of the Spider-Man threequel though, Benedict Cumberbatch had his doubts that exploring the multiverse would be popular. An opinion that left the actor feeling rather silly.

“I think when Kevin Feige first said, ‘We’ll know about the future of cinema, or the cinemagoing experience, after this film,’ I was like, ‘Okay, everyone’s drinking too much of the Kool-Aid around here.’ My ignorance was showed up,” Cumberbatch added.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Will Feature Superhero Think Tank The Illuminati

While the latest trailer strived to keep many of the movie’s mysteries intact, the footage did seemingly reveal an appearance from The Illuminati. A covert think-tank consisting of Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, Professor X, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, and Namor, it looks like The Illuminati will step in when things get out of control. Some theories have even suggested that they will become quasi-villains, believing that they need to erase the MCU in order to bring the multiverse back in line.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be the 28th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is being directed by Evil Dead and Spider-Man 2 filmmaker Sam Raimi from a script written by Jade Halley Bartlett and Michael Waldron. The sequel stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch, Benedict Wong as Wong, Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez, and Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer.

A recent synopsis for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has offered further clues. “In Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before,” the logline reads. “Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is scheduled to be released on May 6, 2022, as part of Phase Four of the MCU.