Not Even Director Sam Raimi Knows If Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Is Finished Filming

Historically speaking, Sam Raimi's influence on the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been far more wide-ranging than merely the return of several characters from his original "Spider-Man" trilogy in "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Without the talented horror director's distinctive fingerprints on every frame of the Tobey Maguire and Kristen Dunst-led "Spider-Man" movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe likely would have turned out very differently. 

Of course, Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige himself received one of his earliest career credits in Hollywood while attached to Raimi's "Spider-Man" in 2002, giving him the perfect opportunity to sit back and watch a master at work (possibly taking mental notes for the birth of his own Marvel franchise only a handful of years later). With Raimi officially making his MCU debut as director of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," we can consider this as a full-circle moment that has been decades in the making.

Now's not quite the time for fond reminiscing just yet, however. Raimi has his hands full with making sure production of the "Doctor Strange" sequel continues on schedule (although don't think for a second that that's stopped him from making the time to catch "Spider-Man: No Way Home" in theaters). The sequel, which lost original director Scott Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill before Raimi came on board, has been beset by rumors of extensive reshoots (which were confirmed by star Benedict Cumberbatch) that cast a bit of a shadow over the latest Marvel project. 

With "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" now only a few months away from release, naturally Raimi was asked about those rumors and whether the superhero movie is actually complete. As it turns out, Raimi isn't totally sure of that himself! 

At this point, our only hope for a straight answer might be Doctor Strange himself ... although not even the Sorcerer Supreme possesses the Time Stone anymore, unfortunately. Without that, we have director Sam Raimi's quotes to parse for ourselves. In an interview with Variety, Raimi was asked about those pesky little reshoots rumors and whether "Multiverse of Madness" has completed principal photography just yet. Raimi's response may surprise you! In his own words:

"I wish I knew the answer to that question. I think we're done, but we just cut everything. We're just starting to test the picture and we'll find out if there's anything that's got to be picked up. If something's unclear or another improvement I can make in this short amount of time left, I'll do it. One thing I know about the Marvel team is they won't stop. They'll keep pushing it until it's as close to being great as it could."

Raimi is hardly as much a newcomer to the industry as some other picks for Marvel directors have been in the past, but this definitely sounds like a pro who is still getting his first taste of Marvel's typical approach to scheduling built-in reshoots on every one of its productions. After all, we're talking about the guy who shot "Evil Dead" on a shoestring budget out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a skeleton crew (pun intended!) and some elbow grease. 

Marvel Studios' almost never-ending tinkering with their movies until the last possible minute remains well-known throughout the industry, though the tenor of those aforementioned reshoot rumors did seem to go a bit farther than their usual M.O. Even so, you won't catch Raimi with anything other than glowing praise for Feige. He continued:

"Marvel's been a great team to work with. I think that was a not-surprising surprise. I've been super-supported by the whole Marvel operations, starting at the top with Kevin Feige, and working all the way down to the crews that they work with. [They're] super professional and have supported me every step of the way."

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is currently on-track for release on May 6, 2022.