Benedict Cumberbatch hosts SNL the weekend Doctor Strange 2 is out

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: Benedict Cumberbatch attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: Benedict Cumberbatch attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

You know a studio is serious about promoting its new movie when the star shows up on Saturday Night Live, which will mark its 50th anniversary in just a few years. The long-running sketch show just announced its lineup for its May 7 show: the host will be actor Benedict Cumberbatch and the musical guest Arcade Fire.

That weekend also happens to be when Marvel is releasing its next big tentpole movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where Cumberbatch plays the title character. Dare we expect some cameos from elsewhere in the MCU? Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, perhaps?

Cumberbatch last hosted SNL back in 2016, back when the first Doctor Strange movie came out. Man, that feels like a very long time ago, doesn’t it?

Doctor Strange 2 run time

The new Doctor Strange movie will follow up on the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Doctor Strange tried to help Peter Parker go back to a time when not so many people knew he was Spider-Man…but accidentally tore a hole in the fabric of space-time. Happens to the best of us.

The movie will also bring in the Scarlet Witch, lately seen on WandaVision. And probably Patrick Stewart as some kind of alternate dimension Professor X? There’s a lot in there:

Doctor Strange 2 will run a fairly lean two hours and six minutes. Considering all the story they’re planning to cram in there, that’s pretty reasonable.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness comes out on Friday, May 6, but you probably could have guessed that.

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