Returning to the big screen after 2013’s prequel Oz The Great And Powerful, Raimi replaced fellow filmmaker Scott Derrickson, the director of Doctor Strange, to helm the highly anticipated Marvel Studios sequel. Raimi is best known for the horror classic Evil Dead and the Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man trilogy.
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Raimi has revealed to Empire that he has some more popular superheroes on his wish list, as Batman is one of the top ones for him to bring to the big screen. “I’ve always loved Batman. If I ever saw the Batsignal up in the air, I’d come running,” Raimi said. Because the character is currently under the assured direction of the visionary Matt Reeves, as The Batman continues to be a massive box office hit, it may be awhile until Raimi eventually gets his hands on the character.
But according to Raimi, there are several more characters he would like to see be adapted. “If I heard that deep, gurgling laugh of The Shadow coming from the darkness, I would also tentatively step outside. And Spider-Man would be ahead of Doctor Strange, but I don’t want to put him down the list!" Raimi added. Following the 1994 version starring Alec Baldwin, Raimi was reportedly attached to direct his own The Shadow film, but a rocky script eventually erased those plans.
Right now, however, the focus has been on Doctor Strange 2, a film that will surely have lasting implications moving forward in the MCU. As the title implies, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will follow Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange through the alternate realities of the multiverse, as the sorcerer is forced to make new allies in order to defeat new enemies such as the villainous Strange Supreme. Doctor Strange 2 is already being labeled as a film that pushes the boundaries of storytelling, according to Disney CEO Bob Chapek.
Having a director of Raimi’s caliber decide to direct this film after a roughly 8 year hiatus means that whatever he saw in Doctor Strange 2’s script, which is written by Rick and Morty and Loki season one writer Michael Waldron, or took away from Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige’s vision for the ongoing cinematic universe, the sequel must have one memorable and exhilarating story. To keep the excitement rolling, Raimi’s distinct style will very much be incorporated into the film, as star Elizabeth Olsen, who portrays Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in the film, described the sequel as a horror film at times that pushes the MCU’s boundaries.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will arrive in theaters on May 6, 2022.
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Source: Empire
