Doctor Strange ex-director Scott Derrickson seems to have hinted why he stepped down from duty on the upcoming superhero sequel. Titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Marvel’s second standalone movie about the Sorcerer Supreme stars actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
Derrickson is well-known for serving cryptic social media posts, having previously called out studios who force creatives to hit certain deadlines and release dates.
More recently, he took to Twitter to share to his followers his work philosophy. The now-controversial statement seemingly hinted about his reason for leaving the Marvel project.
“I’ve made some hard creative choices this year,” the filmmaker wrote. “But I swore after making The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) that I would never again find myself at the end of somebody else’s movie, and I’m sticking to that.”
Following its MCU debut back in 2016, fans of Doctor Strange have been desperate for a follow-up on the titular surgeon-turned-Sorcerer Supreme. Marvel Studios announced shortly a year after that one was currently in the works. However, Derrickson who was set to return to helm the movie opted out due to creative differences in early 2020. In his replacement, Spider-Man‘s director Sam Raimi was brought onboard.
Cumberbatch will be joined by returning characters played by Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams. They will also reprise their respective roles as Wong, Baron Mordo, and Christine Adams from the first film respectively.
Xochitl Gomez is also set to appear in the film, while Avengers star Elizabeth Olsen will appear as Wanda Maximoff.
What is the real reason why Scott Derrickson left Doctor Strange 2?
Reports say that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the third installment of Marvel’s first multiverse trilogy. It follows WandaVision, the Disney+ produced series and the still-unnamed third Spider-Man movie. Hence, Marvel could be utilizing these three projects to introduce the idea of the multiverse. In other words, the Doctor Strange sequel might stray a bit from its unique individuality to serve as a setup for other projects moving forward. With such priorities changed, it would make sense to Marvel executives to take a more active role in the project. Thus, limiting Derrickson’s creative call toward the overall direction of the film.
Another speculation involves the scariness level that may have also played part in the filmmaker’s departure. Rumors circulated that Doctor Strange 2 could become MCU’s first horror movie. This came after Derrickson described it as “the first scary [Marvel Cinematic Universe] film,” noting that it will “dipped into the gothic and the horror and the horrific.”
However, neither Marvel nor Derrickson have confirmed a specific reason for the director’s departure. Whether it was the change in MCU storyline or level of scare, it is clear that it isn’t the film Scott Derrickson intends to make.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released on March 25, 2022.