The director’s chair on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hasn’t even gone cold yet after the surprising departure of Scott Derrickson last night, but with production still set to start in May, the Marvel Studios blockbuster has no intentions of slowing down. The reason given for the Sinister filmmaker leaving the Sorcerer Supreme’s sequel was “creative differences,” which is the typically vague response given when these kind of things happen in Hollywood, although the 53 year-old is set to remain on board as an executive producer.
Disney and Marvel will be keen to get a replacement on board as soon as possible with shooting commencing in just a few months, and a May 2021 release date already locked in, and it’ll be interesting to see who Kevin Feige decides to hire. While the first Doctor Strange isn’t the strongest entry in the MCU by any means, it did feature some of the franchise’s most unique visuals, and with the multiverse obviously set to factor heavily into the follow-up, someone with a bit of directorial flair is surely required.
In any case, despite this setback, Marvel are keen to tie down the cast for the movie, with Benedicts Cumberbatch and Wong the only names officially confirmed to return so far, alongside Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. The studio have recently put out a casting call for Multiverse of Madness though and from the sounds of things, Stephen Strange’s next adventure is going to feature at least two villains.
Both calls are looking for actors in their 30s to 40s, one a female of open ethnicity and the other an African-American. While that reveals absolutely nothing about the potential plot of the movie, rumors have constantly pegged Nightmare as being the big bad, and some of the actors and actresses that have been linked to the part certainly fit the description given.
Of course, Derrickson had always been keen on the idea of using Nightmare in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, although it remains to be seen if any of his creative input will be retained now that he’s no longer behind the camera. Kevin Feige has previously described the movie as being hugely important for the future of the MCU though and while that may still be the case, replacing a director with such strong horror sensibilities indicates that it probably won’t end up being as scary as Derrickson wanted to make it. Which is definitely a shame.
