Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a big movie, but not everything Sam Raimi filmed could make the final cut. There were plenty of scenes that hit the cutting room floor with around 40 minutes of footage reportedly removed from the film during production. Among the casualties was apparently Adam Hugill’s Rintrah, a longtime ally of Stephen Strange from the comics who many fans had hoped would play a larger role in the movie’s story. The magical Minotaur does make an appearance in the movie, but he only shows up for a handful of quick scenes and speaks only a single featured line during the sequel’s runtime.
In a recent exclusive interview with our own Charles Murphy, screenwriter Michael Waldron confirmed that more of Rintrah had indeed been intended for Multiverse of Madness, but his scenes had to be sacrificed for the greater good of the project. Luckily, the creative only sees this as an opportunity to do more with the character later on:
There’s some Rintrah on the cutting room floor. But look, that’s just meat on the bone for the next go around.
Michael Waldron
In the comics, Rintrah is an inter-dimensional being from the planet R’Vaal with a gifted ability to use magic. He first encountered Doctor Strange in 1986, when the Sorcerer Supreme visited his master for a favor. He would go on to become Strange’s apprentice for a time and has grown to be a favorite cult character among longtime Marvel readers.
In the MCU, Rintrah appears to have found his own way to Kamar-Taj and is already practicing to become a Master of the Mystic Arts when Scarlet Witch attacks the sanctuary. Mercifully, he survives the assault and can be seen continuing his education alongside America Chavez at the end of the movie. Hopefully, this means we get more Rintrah in a potential Doctor Strange 3, which seems like a good bet if Waldron ends up returning to the Marvel Studios fold.
