Sam Raimi In Talks To Direct 'Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness'

Scott Derrickson walked away from directing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for Marvel Studios due to creative differences. But now, they've found his replacement.

Director Sam Raimi is in talks to take the helm of the Doctor Strange sequel starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the Sorcerer Supreme. Considering Raimi's reputation for horror with the likes of the Evil Dead franchise and Drag Me to Hell, not to mention his time spent with Spider-Man for an entire trilogy of films, he seems like the perfect choice for this job.

Honestly, you couldn't ask for a better development than this (via Variety). Raimi has proven that he can handle superhero spectacle with one of the earliest, most successful superhero franchises. Spider-Man 2 is still one of the best superhero movies of all time, even better than both of the recent installments starring Tom Holland. Spider-Man 3 was a misfire, but that's mostly due to studio meddling forcing Raimi to include Venom in the movie even though he wanted nothing to do with the villain.

Meanwhile, on the horror side of things, Raimi knows how to get weird. Evil Dead transformed from something grotesque and scary into something campy and fun. If he can bring both of those sensibilities together and balance them for the weirdness that the Multiverse of Madness will surely bring, then this sequel could end up being one of the most anticipated in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

As for what we can expect from the story for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we really have no idea. We know that the Disney+ series WandaVision will lead directly into the sequel, and the events of Loki will also have some kind of impact on the narrative. There will also be some unexpected character debuts, and apparently Rachel McAdams won't be returning as Christine Palmer.

It's possible that some of those unexpected character debuts have been coming to light around the web. Rumors have been circulating about characters like Clea, Mist and even America Chavez possibly making their MCU debut in the Doctor Strange sequel, but they come from mostly unreliable sources. There have also been rumblings of the Time Stone playing an important part in the story. Hopefully we'll be able to confirm or deny these details with more certainty in the near future.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is slated to hit theaters on May 7, 2021.