Sam Raimi has been one of my favorite directors since I was a child. I'm a huge fan of the EVIL DEAD franchise, and his first two SPIDER-MAN movies really meant a lot to me. (Unfortunately, due to studio meddling his third SPIDER-MAN was a mess.) When Scott Derrickson vacated the director's chair on the DOCTOR STRANGE sequel over "creative differences", I never thought Marvel would turn to Raimi to take over the helm… But it looks like that's exactly what is happening, and when I read that Raimi is in talks to direct DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS my head nearly exploded SCANNERS style.
Derrickson himself seemed to confirm that DOCTOR STRANGE is now in Raimi's hands. Derrickson is still attached to the sequel as executive producer, and he took to his Twitter account to say,
We have to try to keep our excitement under control until Marvel officially announces that the ink is dry on Raimi's deal, but we can still let our minds run wild trying to imagine what fun, stylistic flourishes Raimi might bring to this material… And we can also hope that this means Raimi's frequent collaborator Bruce Campbell will be making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. Raimi worked Campbell into all three SPIDER-MAN movies (made before the MCU existed), so why wouldn't he show up in DOCTOR STRANGE as well?
Campbell took note of the Raimi/STRANGE news, simply commenting,
Raimi and DOCTOR STRANGE certainly isn't a strange pairing; it sounds like an amazing one to me.
Whoever ends up at the helm, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS is scheduled to start filming in May and is expected to reach theatres on May 7, 2021.
Derrickson wrote the screenplay with C. Robert Cargill. Benedict Cumberbatch will be starring as Doctor Strange, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong reprising the roles of Mordo and Wong, respectively. Elizabeth Olsen will also be in the film as Wanda, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch.