Doctor Strange Director Scott Derrickson Calls Leaving Multiverse of Madness "Hardest Decision" of His Career

05/17/2022 05:49 pm EDT

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has officially hit theaters, and it's been making waves for the past two weeks. The film was both a critical and financial success and that's all due to the cast, crew and director Sam Raimi. The Doctor Strange sequel was initially supposed to be helmed by the director of the first film, Scott Derrickson, until he and Marvel Studios parted ways due to creative differences. The director is once again speaking out on parting ways with the film, as he calls it "the hardest decision of my career." Derrickson recently sat down with Empire Magazine (via Syfy) to discuss his new movie, The Black Phone, and he also speaks out on all the rumors surrounding his departure.

"Contrary to gossip, it was all really amicable [when I left] and I'd work there again," Derrickson said. "I'm going to the premiere [of Multiverse of Madness] and I'm really looking forward to it, but I feel like I made the right decision. I've made the movie I was meant to make, at the time I was meant to make it." 

Back in 2019, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced that the sequel will be the studios first horror film when Derrickson was still board. So it made sense that the studio would tap the horror icon to replace him as director. Raimi recently teased that the film might not be a full horror film but would feature flavors of horror. While speaking to Fandango, the director clarified the Marvel Studios President's comments.

"I think what [Kevin] meant, from my point of view, is that this film has a flavor of horror to it," Raimi revealed in the interview. "I think when the original director, Scott Derrickson, and Kevin promoted the coming of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, they said that it was going to be the first Marvel superhero film that had an element of horror to it. I hope I'm not misquoting them. But even after Scott left the picture due to creative differences, that was still the mandate -- to make the first Marvel film that had an element of horror. So, I kept true to their original statements."

Marvel Studios describes Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as follows: "To restore a world where everything is changing, Strange seeks help from his ally Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, and the Avengers' most powerful Scarlet Witch, Wanda. But a terrible threat looms over humanity and the entire universe that no longer can be done by their power alone. Even more surprising, the greatest threat in the universe looks exactly like Doctor Strange." 

The film is directed by the legendary Sam Rami and will star Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Benedict Wong as Wong, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/ Scarlet Witch, Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to hit theaters on May 5th, 2022!

What did you think of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!

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