Benedict Cumberbatch will reportedly return as Doctor Strange in the next Spider-Man movie

It looks like Tom Holland's Spider-Man is getting a strange new mentor.

Benedict Cumberbatch will reprise Doctor Strange in Marvel's next Spider-Man film starring Tom Holland, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety reported on Thursday. Strange, according to the Reporter, will be filling the "mentor role" in the film, similar to the role Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark had in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury had in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

This would be the latest Marvel franchise that Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange would appear in after the character, following his debut 2016 film, had a small role in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, going on to team up with the Avengers in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The former Avengers film featured Peter Parker first being introduced to Stephen Strange.

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Reports that Strange is joining the next Spider-Man only fueled speculation among fans that the film might involve the multiverse in some way. After all, it will also reportedly feature the return of Jamie Foxx as Electro after Foxx played the character in an entirely separate Spider-Man universe built around Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, and the next Doctor Strange movie is titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

While Marvel's schedule could change again due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the next Spider-Man movie is scheduled for release in December 2021, while the second Doctor Strange film is expected to hit theaters just a few months later, in March 2022.