Director Sam Raimi and composer Danny Elfman have collaborated several times over the years, with Elfman providing the scores for Raimi's films Darkman, A Simple Plan, Spider-Man, and Spider-Man 2, in addition to contributing a piece of music to Army of Darkness and taking an acting role in The Gift. Their working relationship hasn't been entirely smooth, though. The duo had a huge falling out during Spider-Man 2, which is why Christopher Young was the composer on Spider-Man 3. In interviews, Elfman was very open about the issues that he and Raimi had, and said he wound't work with the director again… But obviously they were able to patch things up, because Elfman did eventually work with Raimi again on Oz the Great and Powerful. Now it has been confirmed that he'll also be composing the score for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the Raimi-directed sequel to Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange (watch that HERE).
Elfman told Inverse,
I am starting to do bits of pre-work for Doctor Strange 2 that Sam Raimi's directing. Even though I don't start it for some months, there's bits of recorded music they need for the sets."
Scripted by Jade Bartlett and Michael Waldron, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently in production and stars returning Doctor Strange cast members Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Benedict Wong as Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, plus Cumberbatch's Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame co-star Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, and new addition Xochitl Gomez, as America Chavez, a.k.a. Miss America.
Elfman has scored many superhero films over the years – in addition to the Spider-Man films, his credits also include Batman, Batman Returns, 2003's Hulk, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Justice League – but this will only be his second score in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His previous one was Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Michael Giacchino was the composer on the first Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is scheduled to reach theatres on March 25, 2022.