Look, after the 7,123rd entry in the MCU, no one should beat up the creators for lacking inspiration for new film titles. That said, if the rumored name for Doctor Strange 3 proves to be accurate, yikes!
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Gone are the days when studios slapped a number at the end of a title and marketed the sequels as such. Nowadays, everyone tries to be cute and add a little spice to the names. However, one can appreciate the effort to be different and break the rules of convention, and it has worked in the past. While the likes of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Thor: Ragnarok all make sense, since they hint at plot points and relevant events in the movies, the latest Marvel titles – both confirmed and rumored – feel blander than the state of the MCU post-Endgame.
Take the name The Fantastic Four: First Steps as a prime example. Sigh. Is this about Marvel’s First Family or a reboot of Baby’s Day Out? It’s a dreadful title when simply Fantastic Four would have more than sufficed, especially since it’s the first MCU film about the fabulous foursome. And no, it’s not okay to replace the second A in the title with the number four in an attempt to be edgy or hip with the kids.
Then, there’s the rumored title for Thor 5, which is Thor: The Legend of Hercules or Thor: Battle of the Gods, depending on which scooper is to be believed. Reading either of those names, one can’t be sure if this is an MCU movie or a cheaply produced parody made by the Asylum team. Both of those titles need to be workshopped, please and thank you.
Doctor Strange 3‘s rumored title takes the cake, though. Sourcing Production Weekly, the X account Marvel Updates published a poster boasting the most horrendous name yet: Doctor Strange: Time Runs Out. Um, yeah… If that’s the name of the movie, maybe time has run out for Marvel Studios to turn things around and make fans care about it again. While the title sounds awful, it is inspired by a comic book series. As per Marvel itself, there’s an Avengers storyline titled Time Runs Out that pits the Illuminati against the Avengers and leads to the big event Secret Wars – which is also another film in the works at the MCU and features Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.
While the rumored title is a bummer, the update offered two morsels of information that could be music to the ears of comic book movie fans if true. The first is that Sam Raimi will return to direct the sequel. Raimi helmed the positively received Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and possesses quite the pedigree as the mastermind behind the original Spider-Man trilogy. In addition to this, the Oscar-winning Denzel Washington is reportedly the star set to bring the human version of the demonic entity Dormammu to life on the big screen. If this happens, it’ll be a huge coup for the MCU to get someone of Washington’s stature as the villain.
Nothing is official yet, though, so don’t believe Doctor Strange 3 is even a twinkle in Kevin Feige’s eye until Marvel confirms it. Until then, let’s pray that someone in a position of power decides Time Runs Out is a terrible title.