If there’s one thing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness isn’t in short supply of, it’s cameos. Marvel Studios’ latest big-screen adventure is packed to the brim with surprise appearances, including several that were hinted at before the film’s release and others that Marvel tried to keep under tight wraps.
However, while Multiverse of Madness has more cameos than practically any other Marvel Cinematic Universe film to date, there still weren’t as many as some fans predicted there would be. Here are all the rumored Multiverse of Madness cameos that never came to fruition.
Major spoilers ahead.
Multiverse of Madness may have given Marvel fans a chance to see John Krasinski as Reed Richards, but it did not give them Tom Cruise as a multiversal variant of Tony Stark. The Mission: Impossible star was heavily rumored to have a role in the Doctor Strange sequel, with speculation that Cruise and Marvel were teaming up to pay homage to the fact that Cruise was almost cast as Iron Man way back in 2007.
That said, the chances of Cruise actually making an appearance in Multiverse of Madness always seemed slim. The same goes for a number of other actors, including Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Hugh Jackman, Ioan Gruffudd, Thomas Jane, Jon Bernthal, Wesley Snipes, Nicolas Cage, and Edward Norton, all of whom were rumored at one point or another to be reprising their previous Marvel roles for the film.
Multiverse of Madness also doesn’t feature a surprise appearance from Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. He was heavily rumored to have a cameo in the film after some fans believed they spotted him hiding in one of its early posters. That rumor was never confirmed by Reynolds or anyone involved in the film, and now we know for sure that Deadpool isn’t in Multiverse of Madness.
It was also rumored that Multiverse of Madness would feature a cameo from Ghost Rider. But not only does the Spirit of Vengeance never show up in Multiverse of Madness, the film’s connections to him or any other Midnight Sons characters are almost entirely non-existent.
The Inverse Analysis — Marvel fans went a bit wild with theories about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in the months leading up to its release. Considering how many cameo characters actually do show up in the film, it seems safe to say that a lot of those rumors were well-grounded. But not even Multiverse of Madness could find time for all the cameos that fans wanted.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that some of these rumored characters won’t ever show up in the MCU. When it comes to the multiverse, anything is possible.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters.
