The Marvel Cinematic Universe is preparing to be even more shaken up after Phase 4's timeline is uprooted through WandaVision (2021) and Loki (2021-) as director Sam Raimi returns to take on the multiverse. There's a rumor that Raimi will bring a certain horror icon along with him.
Actor Bruce Campbell, of The Evil Dead fame, faced the question that has been swirling around the internet since it was revealed that Raimi would make his MCU comeback for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). The sequel to Doctor Strange (2016) not only welcomes back the Spider-Man (2002-2007) director but offers a taste of horror within the superhero genre. Raimi, in close association with Campbell from their work on The Evil Dead franchise, comes with the assumption that Raimi is to weasel Campbell into his superhero sequel.
"Look, I think it's a standing rule that Sam Raimi, his movies are not good if I'm not in them. If Sam wants a good movie he'll put me in it," Campbell joked. "But you never know [with] these epic movies what's going to stay or go in the course of telling these huge stories, so I don't know. That's why I keep it, cryptic because (a) I don't want to get sued but (b) I don't want to say, 'Yeah, hey, tune in!' and then they go, 'Where were you, idiot?' But I always enjoy working with my old friend, Mr. Director," Campbell said to Entertainment Weekly while promoting the 40th Anniversary of The Evil Dead, which will be celebrated by the film returning to theaters.
"I can only give you a strange answer. I can answer that, but only with a strange answer," Campbell said, "Am I in Doctor Strange 2? The strange answer is... linoleum." Campbell achieved previous cameos throughout Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy that was headlined by actor Tobey Maguire. To add to the MCU rumors, Maguire's involvement in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) is still viewed as a possibility by wishful fans.
Campbell takes a relatively safe route when answering a pressing question. It's no surprise that it's expected that the actor is somehow to play a part in the Multiverse of Madness, and he seems well-aware of how wanted he is to be seen in Marvel Studios' first official horror piece. "I would say that's a pretty good rumor. I think that won't get me sued. That's a pretty good rumor, yeah," Campbell concludes, choosing to keep his acknowledgments of the rumors known, yet leaving no defined promises tied to them.
Whether Raimi chooses to bring in Campbell or not is yet to be determined, and even if Campbell is absent, frontrunners Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen will be in the company of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and MCU newcomer Xochitl Gomez. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens in theaters on March 25, 2022.