Along with boasting impressive credits like the Evil Dead movies and A Simple Plan, Sam Raimi played an integral role in popularizing superhero movies in the 2000s with his Spider-Man trilogy. Now Raimi is back within this genre as the director of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This hire delighted a lot of people when it was announced last year, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is unsurprisingly part of this group, though for him, his excitement stems from a more personal place.
Before he became the architect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige made a name for himself as a producer on the Marvel movies being handled at other studios, starting with X-Men and including all three of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. Having seen Raimi usher the Web-Slinger to the theatrical realm, and knowing that Doctor Strange is one of the filmmaker’s other favorite characters, Feige told Rotten Tomatoes that it’s “quite remarkable and full-circle” for him from his “journey at Marvel.” Feige continued:
But really, it’s just exciting to get to watch Sam work again and to see Sam Raimi put his Sam Raimi stamp on Doctor Strange in Multiverse on Madness. And for people who know what that stamp is, they can be very excited. And for people who don’t yet know what that stamp is, I can’t wait for them to see this movie, be blown away by it and go, ‘What else has he done?’ And delve into Sam Raimi’s filmography, which is one of the best of all time.
Although originally Scott Derrickson, director of 2016’s Doctor Strange, was supposed to direct the sequel, he stepped away in January 2020 due to creative differences, though he is still attached as an executive producer. The following month, Sam Raimi was reported to be in contention for the now-open director’s job, and a few months later, he officially confirmed to have signed onto Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. So not only does he now have the opportunity to play with another one of his cherished superheroes (remember that Doctor Strange reference in Spider-Man 2?), but Kevin Feige is confident that Raimi’s unique “stamp” is a perfect fit for the next round of Doctor Strange cinematic craziness.
While Kevin Feige was hesitant to call Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness a horror movie back in late 2019, in recent months, the movie has been hyped as a scary MCU offering, especially by Elizabeth Olsen, who is reprising Scarlet Witch. Now while that doesn’t mean Multiverse of Madness will be delving into R-rated territory (so far, the only upcoming MCU movie expected to do that is Deadpool 3), Raimi’s filmmaking sensibilities, particularly where horror is concerned, do lend themselves to delivering one of the more intense entries in this franchise.
No specific plot details about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have been revealed yet, other than it will see Benedict Cumberbatch’s Master of the Mystic Arts exploring other realities and build off the events of the Disney+ shows WandaVision and Loki. The sequel’s cast also includes Benedict Wong’s Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mordo, Rachel McAdams’ Christine Palmer and Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez. Michael Waldon, Loki’s head writer and executive producer, penned the most recent draft of Multiverse of Madness.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will work its magic in theaters on March 25, 2022, so keep your eyes locked on CinemaBlend for more updates on its progress and news about other upcoming Marvel movies.
