Sam Raimi Talks About The Original Runtime of DOCTOR STRANGE 2 and The Deleted Scenes

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opened in theaters this past weekend and took fans on a dark and twisted path through the multiverse. It showed us new characters, some familiar faces, and the darkest storyline we’ve seen yet in the MCU. I was surprised that such an ambitious storyline only had a runtime of just over two hours, but figured the creators and editors were confident they could tell the story in that timeframe.

The film’s director, Sam Raimi, talked about that runtime as well as the film’s deleted scenes in a recent sit down with Collider, saying:

“The first cut was I actually don't remember the length of it. It was probably like two hours and 40 minutes, and it slowly came down even though we did the reshoots. We took out material even though the reshoots went in. So, it slowly got down to about two hours and five minutes is the total.”

He went on to add that he isn’t sure which scenes he will end up in the home release, saying:

“I'm trying to remember what Marvel is including in the deleted scenes. It's really going to be their decision, but I know that there are at least two or three deleted scenes that will be included. I don't know the full extent of them though.”

I’m sure some of the deleted content was repurposed, or wouldn’t apply anymore, but it will be cool to see what they do release. Sometimes deleted scenes give more context to the story, but are just slower paced. I guess we will just have to wait and see. For now, go watch Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in theaters.