Every few years it seems like Marvel reopens its doors to new filmmakers. As franchises progress, they often find themselves handed off to new directors and fresh creative visions. With that in mind, horror master Scott Derrickson recently made a grand debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his work on Doctor Strange, and the director recently revealed that he has plenty of ideas left over to work on a sequel. I recently had the chance to ask Benedict Cumberbatch why Scott Derrickson should return to the Doctor Strange franchise, and the actor explained that Derrickson has the unique ability to multitask without ever sacrificing the quality of Doctor Strange's mind-bending visuals. Cumberbatch said:
...I think also Scott's got, he's very good on process, and he's very good on visuals and he had to cram a lot in. I mean this was a much harder shoot in many ways than I imagine some of the other origin stories had been. They're all hard, not to detract from the hard work that they put in, but my point is that there was a massively fast turn around. So he was having to edit and approve special effects shots at the same time as setting up these huge sequences live and getting the camera and angles and performances and visuals right on the day. So he was double tasking in a pretty full on way and then he was, for someone who's done stuff to do stuff with the supernatural before but never, as he'd be the first to admit I'm sure, never quite on this scale. He had to do it all with great skill and the results are on the screen. So yeah I think this film speaks to why Scott would be a great choice to direct it again...
One look at Scott Derrickson's IMDB filmography will tell you everything that you need to know about this director's history in the industry. While Derrickson has plenty of experience dealing with films that directly tackle ideas like horror and the supernatural (which Benedict Cumberbatch points out), the challenges presented by a huge movie like Doctor Strange were ultimately different for him. This is a filmmaker who is relatively new to the world of big-budget blockbuster filmmaking, and his raw talent as a director (as well as his ability to multitask under tight deadlines) carried Doctor Strange through the production process. You would never even know that Strange was his first comic book movie because he handled all of the essential duties of creating this epic, effects-heavy film with such incredible ease.
That said, the core structure of Doctor Strange helped in this process. In another part of my discussion with Benedict Cumberbatch about the success of the recent Marvel film, he explained that the movie resonated with audiences because of the ways in which it blended familiar elements of the superhero genre with new inversions on the existing formula. Derrickson had his work cut out for him in this film, but he was assisted by the foundation that Marvel has established in recent years.
For a longer look at our conversation with Benedict Cumberbatch on Doctor Strange, see the clip below.
We will bring you more information related to the future of Stephen Strange in the Marve Cinematic Universe as new details become available to us. The Doctor Strange Blu-ray will hit shelves on February 28, and it is currently available on Digital HD.
