For a movie that has to deal with so many characters and villains, Spider-Man: No Way Home does a wonderful job of balancing their screentime in a way that doesn’t steal from their importance.
Take Benedict Cumberbatch, for instance, who once again gets the opportunity to deliver a wonderful performance as the Sorcerer Supreme in the Spidey threequel. His presence in the film transcends what should be a simple plot tool to push the story towards where it needs to go, which is why when you see him appear on-screen, he integrates into the narrative as nothing more than a natural part of this interconnected cinematic universe.
It seems that former Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director Scott Derrickson actually shares our sentiment, so much so, in fact, that he took the time to appreciate the appearance of the character in No Way Home by posting a message on social media. “Genuinely happy to see the visual language of Doctor Strange permeating the ongoing MCU,” he wrote on Twitter, as can be seen below.
Derrickson also answered a fan question about the very same “visual language” that Doctor Strange represents with his unique magic in the MCU. This one was about where the filmmaker got the idea for the sling ring portals to leave sparks behind, to which he replied: “I wanted them to feel tactile and relatable.”
The director was already busy working on a follow-up to his Doctor Strange film when it came out in 2016, but after spending several years in the pre-production phase, Marvel Studios announced that legendary Spider-Man director Sam Raimi would take over from Derrickson due to creative differences.
And so, Raimi is currently the guy who’s helming the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ship, though Derrickson still serves as one of the main executive producers on the much-anticipated sequel.
