Fans were immensely disappointed when Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson was let go from its sequel, but rejoiced when Sam Raimi was hired to replace him.
Raimi is a huge name in the comic book film world, gifting us Darkman and the original Spider-Man trilogy as well as horror classics like the Evil Dead franchise and Drag Me To Hell among many others. Now he’s working on the fabulously-titled Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, which is set to (finally) introduce horror into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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On that note, Sam Raimi recently offered some juicy hints about what we can expect in the Multiverse of Madness.
Sam Raimi Shares Horror Thoughts
The fan-favorite director spoke to Fandango about the nature of horror in the film.
“I think what [Kevin] meant, from my point of view, is that this film has a flavor of horror to it… I think when the original director, Scott Derrickson, and Kevin promoted the coming of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, they said that it was going to be the first Marvel superhero film that had an element of horror to it. I hope I’m not misquoting them.
But even after Scott left the picture due to creative differences, that was still the mandate — to make the first Marvel film that had an element of horror. So, I kept true to their original statements.
I think that’s what Kevin means, because it is spooky at some times and scary at others.” “It’s unknown what you’ll find in the multiverse. It’s within that unknown that suspense and darkness exists. A tool to titillate the audience’s fear. Plus, Doctor Strange in the comics has always dealt in universes and dimensions that were quite spooky, so we tried to bring some of that into this film.”
For those who aren’t aware, Scott Derrickson is a well-known horror director in his own right, helming Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and has The Black Phone coming out later this year. It’s quite sad we’ll never get to see what Derrickson’s version of Doctor Strange: in the Multiverse of Madness would have been, but like Derrickson, Sam Raimi has always had a distinct and personal flair in his films that has helped him stand out for decades now.
A majority of his horror films succeed in balancing goofy camp with sincere characters to go along with the scares, so if he is given a majority of control over Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we could easily get one of the MCU’s strongest installments to date.
We were first introduced to the idea of the multiverse in last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which (SPOILER) brought together all 3 live-action Spider-Men. Doctor Strange was a prominent supporting character in that film, and while he was able to reverse what Peter Parker had done, the trailers for Multiverse of Madness indicate things won’t be as simple as he thought.
Using this film as the origin point for horror in the MCU is a great idea given the infinite possibilities for different universes that could be portrayed onscreen, and if it proves successful with audiences, could open the door for future horror-centric installments down the line. I grew up with the Sam Rami Spider-Man movies and loved Darkman and Evil Dead 2, so the fact that Sam Raimi is returning to the superhero genre and combining his horror sensibilities with it makes me absolutely giddy.
I’m intrigued to see where Sam Raimi takes the character and to see how he scares us all on May 6, 2022.
What are your thoughts on Sam Raimi’s quotes regarding Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Are you excited to see what Raimi brings to the table with the film’s horror elements? Did you enjoy the first Doctor Strange? What’s your favorite Benedict Cumberbatch performance? How far do you think Marvel will push the horror elements? Let us know in the comments below and on our Twitter.
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Source: Fandango
