It’s no mystery that Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness was considered divisive by fans, but before Sam Raimi jumped onboard, original Strange director Scott Derrickson was attached to the helm.
In a new interview with The Playlist, Derrickson talks about him leaving the project, and what went wrong behind the scenes that got him to exit. Before Derrickson left, there were rumors going around that the sequel was going to be more of a horror movie, to which he confirms the sequel would have been an “extreme departure from the first film,” and, “a genuine horror film of sorts.”
We don’t know exactly where Derrickson and Marvel started to form a rift, but Derrickson had already seen that the project he was setting out to do was different from what the studio had in mind. He says:
“All I can say is that what we said publicly is exactly the truth… We had real creative differences. You know, the movie I wanted to make and how I wanted to make it was different than–it was just increasingly obvious that we were pulling against each other. And that’s how you make a really bad movie, I think. When the producer or the studio and the filmmaker are making different movies, you end up with a monstrosity and, you know, that’s why I had to bounce.”
Though it definitely is a shame that Derrickson wasn’t able to make the movie he wanted, there are a lot of fans who love how Multiverse of Madness completely embraces Raimi’s style of storytelling. Admittedly, it did have some cameos that felt a tad forced, but everything involving the Scarlet Witch is pure Raimi-level horror.
For now, Derrickson says there’s no ‘bad blood’ between him and the studio, and he even went to the premiere. Perhaps he can return for the next Strange movie, but at this point, it looks like Marvel already knows what they want and it’s only a matter of hiring a director who’s willing to have their name slapped into the credits.
No release date has been announced for the next Doctor Strange movie, but it is expected to release before Avengers: Secret Wars which comes out 2026.
It’s no mystery that Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness was considered divisive by fans, but before Sam Raimi jumped onboard, original Strange director Scott Derrickson was attached to the helm.
In a new interview with The Playlist, Derrickson talks about him leaving the project, and what went wrong behind the scenes that got him to exit. Before Derrickson left, there were rumors going around that the sequel was going to be more of a horror movie, to which he confirms the sequel would have been an “extreme departure from the first film,” and, “a genuine horror film of sorts.”
We don’t know exactly where Derrickson and Marvel started to form a rift, but Derrickson had already seen that the project he was setting out to do was different from what the studio had in mind. He says:
“All I can say is that what we said publicly is exactly the truth… We had real creative differences. You know, the movie I wanted to make and how I wanted to make it was different than–it was just increasingly obvious that we were pulling against each other. And that’s how you make a really bad movie, I think. When the producer or the studio and the filmmaker are making different movies, you end up with a monstrosity and, you know, that’s why I had to bounce.”
Though it definitely is a shame that Derrickson wasn’t able to make the movie he wanted, there are a lot of fans who love how Multiverse of Madness completely embraces Raimi’s style of storytelling. Admittedly, it did have some cameos that felt a tad forced, but everything involving the Scarlet Witch is pure Raimi-level horror.
For now, Derrickson says there’s no ‘bad blood’ between him and the studio, and he even went to the premiere. Perhaps he can return for the next Strange movie, but at this point, it looks like Marvel already knows what they want and it’s only a matter of hiring a director who’s willing to have their name slapped into the credits.
No release date has been announced for the next Doctor Strange movie, but it is expected to release before Avengers: Secret Wars which comes out 2026.
