Scott Derrickson will return to direct the sequel to Doctor Strange

It's not exactly a big surprise, but THR has reported that Scott Derrickson will return to direct the sequel to DOCTOR STRANGE. The outlet reported that Derrickson quietly finalized the deal and that the search for a writer to pen the screenplay is about to get underway. As Scott Derrickson had a hand in penning the first film, along with Jon Spaihts and C. Robert Cargill, I wouldn't be surprised if he also gave his two cents on the sequel's script as well.

Benedict Cumberbatch will obviously return as Dr. Stephen Strange for the sequel, as will Benedict Wong as Wong, and THR says that Rachel McAdams will also likely return as Christine Palmer. It's expected that the script will be tackled next year with an eye towards production kicking off in spring 2020. As far as what the DOCTOR STRANGE sequel will bring, Scott Derrickson has previously expressed his desire to bring in more of the "weird stuff" which the Doctor Strange comics have excelled at for years.

I wouldn’t necessarily rule anything out. That’s certainly where the comics went in the ’80s but I also think that was probably the weakest era of the comics. The alternate dimensions and possibilities of the multiverse that we set up with the first film already give limitless possibilities. What I will say is that the goal would not be to underutilize that, or to create something that was less innovative than the first ‘Doctor Strange.’ The comics, especially the Lee/Ditko comics, were always pushing into unexpectedly weird places and storylines. That has continued on into the current Doctor Strange comics, which are really great. So anything’s possible with Doctor Strange, I wouldn’t rule anything out.

Before DOCTOR STRANGE had even premiered back in 2016, Scott Derrickson was asked about what he'd like to see in the sequel and he said that he really liked "the character of Nightmare and the concept that the Nightmare Realm is a dimension. […] That’s early – that’s like the first Strange tale. I think that’s in the introductory episode of Doctor Strange, and I always loved that." There was talk of including Nightmare in the first film, but ultimately they decided that it was too much of a complex idea to introduce along with Strange's origin.