We've now reached the point in film journalism when rumors are being debunked before they even reach the embryonic stage. A pre-emptive debunking. In this case, it's in regards to Spider-Man: Far From Home, Marvel and Sony's sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, and one character who will not be showing up in it. Not that anybody ever said he was going to. So why is this a story?
The answer is simple: Marvel.
What we know about Far From Home is still pretty slim. Tom Holland will return as Peter Parker and the story will pick up just minutes after Avengers 4. He's expected to go on a vacation across the pond with some friends, and it's in London where he'll presumably battle the villain Mysterio, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Doctor Strange has one of his sanctums set up in London, and that has led some to speculate he could make an appearance. Well...no. That's not happening. Marvel's Kevin Feige took a cleaver to that rumor before Slashfilm's Peter Sciretta could get it spreading around too fast...
Peter: I’m wondering ’cause London there is a sanctum there. Is Doctor Strange gonna be the one in this one?
Kevin: No.
Peter: No?
Kevin: I could be coy about it but no.
Peter: (shocked that he gave a direct response) Okay.
Kevin: I don’t wanna get people excited. But Benedict and Holland have liked the idea of working together.
Spidey was shadowed by Tony Stark all throughout Homecoming, but he's an Avenger now and doesn't need a mentor. I expect we'll still see another superhero teamup with him, but it won't be someone as obvious as Doctor Strange. If we're lucky it'll be someone we haven't seen before, or a character who could use the extra screen time.
Spidey and Strange were a pretty likeable duo in Avengers: Infinity War, though, and Feige must know he has a good thing going there. Since Doctor Strange 2 is definitely going to happen at some point, don't be surprised if a certain wallcrawler makes an appearance.
Spider-Man: Far From Home opens July 5th 2019.
