Derrickson exits Doctor Strange sequel, planning Joe Hill adaptation

Last July, DOCTOR STRANGE director Scott Derrickson took the stage during the Marvel panel at the San Diego Comic-Con to announce that he would be taking the helm of the sequel DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS – and that it would be "the first scary MCU film", as he wanted to 

go into the territory that drew me into the Doctor Strange comics in the first place, which is how they dipped into the gothic and the horror and the horrific."

Producer Kevin Feige has since said that the movie will have legitimately scary sequences in it, and Derrickson seemed to be the perfect director to make this sort of MCU film, since his previous credits include THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, SINISTER, and DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

Unfortunately, something went wrong behind the scenes on the way to DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS's May production start date. Derrickson took to his Twitter account to say, 

Marvel and I have mutually agreed to part ways on ‘Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness’ due to creative differences. I am thankful for our collaboration and will remain on as EP.

Marvel confirmed Derrickson's exit from the director's chair in a statement to Variety, 

Marvel Studios and Scott Derrickson have amicably parted ways on ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ due to creative differences. We remain grateful to Scott for his contributions to the MCU.

Creative differences are plain to see right there, as Derrickson put a colon in the film's title and Marvel doesn't.

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS doesn't currently have a director, but that's not expected to shake up the film's schedule. It will still go into production in May, so Marvel should be announcing the name of the replacement director very soon.

It's not clear what's next for Derrickson now that he's not making the DOCTOR STRANGE sequel, but before creative differences messed up his plans he had already revealed his intention to move straight from this project to making an R-rated horror movie, an adaptation of an unspecified Joe Hill novel. He has been developing that project with his SINISTER and DOCTOR STRANGE co-writer C. Robert Cargill. So maybe the Hill movie will get bumped up in his schedule.

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS will star Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange and Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch. The film is heading toward a May 7, 2021 release.