Doctor Strange 2 is close to topping a billion at the global box office

Following the early reactions to Doctor Strange 2 ahead of its premiere on May 6, the latest MCU film pulled in $90 million on its first day in theaters alone. However, the movie failed to sustain its momentum due to various reasons. One fairly common and very valid criticism about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is its runtime.

As one of the most highly anticipated MCU movies in years (and that's saying something), the follow-up to 2016's Doctor Strange more than deserves a longer screen time. Instead, the final product was at least more than half an hour shorter than the initial leaks.

There's this nagging feeling that Doctor Strange 2 should have been a more enjoyable and entertaining film. This isn't to say that it wasn't, but a longer cut would have helped dispel these doubts. Unfortunately, we don't have America Chavez's multiverse portal punching powers to find out if there's a version of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness out there that retained its nearly three-hour-long runtime.

In the meantime, MCU fans can look forward to Ms. Marvel's debut on Disney+ on May 8 with Thor: Love and Thunder coming after in theaters on July 8.