'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' to introduce new characters in MCU: Kevin Feige

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has teased that the sequel to "Doctor Strange" will introduce new characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The sequel, titled "Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness", will bring back Benedict Cumberbatch as the Sorcerer Supreme.

Scott Derrickson, who helmed the 2016 film, is also returning for the sequel.

During a recent Q&A at the New York Film Academy, Feige said the introduction of the new, unexpected characters will come as a surprise to the fans.

"Sometimes you're choosing title hero, you're choosing which main character or main team you want to bring to the screen and oftentimes, it's as you're making and developing the movie Who will come into it? Who will fit into it?'" he said.

"The next 'Doctor Strange' film, for instance, features some new MCU characters that will be making their debut in that movie. You won't expect or won't guess who it is but we found a cool way to make it work because we want to make a particular type of movie there and there was a character we always wanted to do something with who will fit really well there," he added.

Feige also said that the sequel will not be a horror film but will certainly have some scary and edge-of-the-seat sequences.

"I wouldn't necessarily say that's a horror film, but it is, as Scott Derrickson, our director, has pitched it, a big MCU film with scary sequences in it," he said.

He added that the movie will draw inspiration from some of the classics of the 1980s, such as Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", among others.

"When I was a kid in the 80s, Spielberg did an amazing job. There are horrifying sequences in 'Raiders (of the Lost Ark') that I would, as a little kid, (cover my eyes) when their faces melted. Or 'Temple of Doom', of course, or 'Gremlins' or 'Poltergeist'.

"These are the movies that invented the PG-13 rating, by the way. They were PG and they were like, We need another (rating).' But that's fun, it's fun to be scared in that way and not a horrific, torturous way, but in a way that is legitimately scary because Scott Derrickson's quite good at that. But scary in the service of an exhilarating emotion," Feige said.

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" will also feature Elizabeth Olsen, who will reprise her MCU role of Scarlet Witch. She will join the movie following the events of her Disney Plus series "WandaVision".