Sam Raimi Indicates He Is Indeed Directing Doctor Strange 2

Doctor Strange 2 AKA Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, has found a new director in horror legend Sam Raimi. This news comes after the departure of Scott Derrickson, who directed the first Doctor Strange film, due to "creative differences."

Raimi's involvement in the project was first discussed back in February as rumors of negotiations began circulating. Derrickson took to Twitter to congratulate him, but Raimi himself did not comment. However, during an interview with ComingSoon.net, Raimi spoke about including a Doctor Strange Easter Egg in Spider-Man 2, and in the process, seemingly confirmed that he will be involved in the new MCU film.

"I loved Doctor Strange as a kid, but he was always after Spider-Man and Batman for me, he was probably at number five for me of great comic book characters,” Raimi described. “He was so original, but when we had that moment in Spider-Man 2 I had no idea that we would ever be making a Doctor Strange movie, so it was really funny to me that coincidentally that line was in the movie. I gotta say I wish we had the foresight to know that I was going to be involved in the project."

Back at San Diego Comic-Con, actor Benedict Cumberbatch teased that Multiverse of Madness would be the MCU's "first film with a twist of horror" so Raimi, whose credits include Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, and Drag Me To Hell, certainly seems like an appropriate choice.

Unfortunately, due to the global COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, Marvel has pushed back release dates for many of the upcoming Phase 4 films, so we won't be venturing into the multiverse until November 5, 2021.

But fear not, there's plenty to tide you over in the meantime. Consider listening to GameSpot's weekly TV series and movies-focused podcast, You Should Be Watching. With new episodes premiering every Wednesday, you can watch a video version of the podcast over on GameSpot Universe or listen to audio versions on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and Apple Podcasts.