The well oiled machine that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe recently threw a small rod when it was announced that Scott Decrickson, the director of the first Doctor Strange, who had signed on to the sequel as well, was leaving the project due to those ever present "creative differences." Derrickson leaving was big news, and so it was obvious that when his replacement was found it would be just as big. However, the replacement might even turn out to be bigger news, as it was recently revealed that Marvel Studios has been talking to Sam Raimi to take the job.
Sam Raimi, of course, is one of the people largely credited with launching the success of comic book movies into the stratosphere with the original Spider-Man in 2002. And so, of course, the idea of seeing him return to the genre is a highly attractive idea. And the Doctor Strange franchise feels like a perfect fit for the director with a penchant for horror.
And it seems that Sam Raimi might have a soft spot for Doctor Strange as a character, as he actually gave the master of the mystic arts a shout out back in Spider-Man 2. In a sequence in which J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson is trying to come up with a catchy name for New York's latest super villain, we learn that Doctor Strange actually is a character that exists in this universe.
The Doctor Strange reference is a great one because before the existence of the MCU, Doctor Strange wasn't exactly a top tier superhero character. Those who read the comics knew him, but the audience in the movie theater who wasn't familiar with Marvel might or might not even recognize the name. Although, it is interesting to learn that Doctor Strange is a known quantity in the Spider-Man films, so apparently Sam Raimi was teasing cinematic universes before they were a thing.
Certainly, the idea of Sam Raimi directing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is an attractive proposition. While we know that the new film won't be a "horror movie" in any traditional sense, the title alone makes it sound like the sort of movie where a horror director would feel at home, and while Sam Raimi can certainly do anything, he did Spider-Man after all, horror is still clearly his comfort zone.
Also, bringing in a director with a pedigree like Sam Raimi should help to quell any fears that fans of the MCU had after Scott Derrickson's departure. The fact that creative differences with Marvel caused the pair to part ways after one movie had already been successful seemed quite unusual and it feels like there's a story there.
Of course, at this point all that we're hearing is that the Evil Dead director is "in talks" so there's no guarantee this will come to pass, Marvel is likely talking to several potential directors.
