Shortly before the first trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was released, Marvel Studios shared a first look at merchandise for the sequel, which included a rather unexpected Marvel Legends action figure from Hasbro revealing a startling new costume for Stephen Strange.
Given the nature of Sam Raimi's sequel, "Defender Strange" could quite easily be a Variant, but we can't help but wonder whether this is, in fact, the Master of the Mystic Arts' updated appearance in the MCU.
It matches up with what we've seen on the page, of course, and it does feel like the right time for Strange's wardrobe to receive an overhaul five years after Benedict Cumberbatch first played the hero. His status quo has changed a lot since returning from the Blip (see Spider-Man: No Way Home for more details), and becoming a Defender could have very exciting consequences.
Phase 4 (and 5) looks set to embrace the supernatural side of the MCU in a big way, so Strange assembling a team to deal with threats to the Multiverse would be epic. The Defenders could potentially even be this world's take on The Illuminati, a group that is rumoured to appear in the Doctor Strange sequel.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to be released on May 6.