Credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel StudiosWhen the Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) trailer FINALLY dropped this week, Marvel fans couldn’t get enough — the trailer quickly surpassed the Avengers: Endgame (2019) record for most views ever — and it showed Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) as we’ve never seen him before…in sweatpants and a Columbia University hoodie.
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Now, hilariously, Columbia is wholly leaning into its most famous “alumni” on social media.
The Ivy League University posted:
Dr. Strange, represent!!
A genius know-it-all Dr. and PhD. who is humbled by going on an introspective journey of the self and now helps other brilliant people save the world? Sounds like our kinda guy.
👀 Dr. Strange, represent!!
A genius know-it-all Dr. and PhD. who is humbled by going on an introspective journey of the self and now helps other brilliant people save the world? Sounds like our kinda guy. 🙃 https://t.co/RuD178EQoU
— Columbia University (@Columbia) August 24, 2021
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Social media users immediately started commenting on the post, and Columbia has been responding, including one hilarious exchange with Shobit that went as follows:
Shobit: Your kinda guys mess up multiverses???
Columbia: Importantly he seems to have removed the hoodie before that happens…Shobit: Well played Columbia, well played
Your kinda guys mess up multiverses???
— Shobhit (@shobhit713) August 24, 2021
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Alexandria Lynn pointed out another ironic connection between Doctor Strange’s Alma Mater and the No Way Home trailer — actor Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus/Doc Ock) recently married real-life Columbia alumna Jennifer Lee:
It’s even more genius considering Columbia alum @alittlejelee recently married Dr. Ock himself!
It's even more genius considering Columbia alum @alittlejelee recently married Dr. Ock himself!https://t.co/5ntIMJNuNm
— Alexandria Lynn (@EpixAndroid96) August 24, 2021
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A current Columbia student going by GuruLahoriiiiiii on Twitter wrote:
Dr. Strange repping a @Columbia hoodie woooooo
One of his followers, Drew Prettyman, replied to the post, noting that the classic grey University hoodie is now sold out:
So excited I got mine before it sold out!!!!
So excited I got mine before it sold out!!!!
— Drew Prettyman (@DrewElizabeth) August 25, 2021
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Ashley K. posted a screenshot of Columbia’s Instagram post about Doctor Strange, noting:
Columbia embracing Dr. Strange as their fictional alumni lol
Columbia embracing Dr. Strange as their fictional alumni lol pic.twitter.com/5f4Kejg1iG
— Ashley K. (@AshleyKSmalls) August 26, 2021
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The original post was captioned:
First day of class and your professor shows up wearing this, wyd?
Dr. Strange popped up in the new #SpiderManNoWayHome trailer, looking cozy in his Columbia hoodie. We assure you, we have seen THAT before in a gift shop
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Commentors quipped things like, “Can he cast a spell to waive my tuition?” and “Columbia is hiding an Infinity Stone, I’m calling it.”
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As for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, after No Way Home this December 17, MCU fans can next see him alongside Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
The official description of Spider-Man: No Way Home reads:
For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
In addition to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Cumberbatch, No Way Home will star Zendaya reprising her role as MJ. Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire are also expected to return as their respective versions of Spider-Man.
Related: Brie Larson Reportedly Cast as Luke Skywalker’s Wife
To learn more about Columbia University in the City of New York, visit the educational institution’s official website.
What do you think about Columbia leaning into its most iconic MCU “alumni”?
You can stream Black Widow and the three series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 so far — Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany’s WandaVision, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki — on Disney+ anytime.