Director Scott Derrickson and his regular collaborator C. Robert Cargill were initially tasked with developing a sequel to their Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster Doctor Strange, before the duo both departed. Sam Raimi was brought on board and Multiverse of Madness is scheduled to hit theaters in six months, but writer Cargill clearly bears no ill will to his former employers.
The most recent episode of Marvel’s What If…? on Disney Plus was the most tragic installment yet, following Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme as he desperately tried to find any way possible of preventing Christine Palmer’s death. Suffice to say, things soon spiraled out of control as his grief began to tear apart the very fabric of the universe, and in the end he ended up with nothing.
It was heavy stuff for an animated series, and Cargill recently took to social media to praise “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” for its storytelling prowess, as well as voicing his enthusiasm over a project he worked on being subjected to the What If…? treatment.
The beauty of the show is that it can get away with taking such wild swings and making massive deviations to the movie or movies each episode is based on, but it’s all technically multiversal canon. It adds new depth and shade to the MCU back catalogue, and it can’t be denied that Christine got a better arc in 30 minutes of What If…? than she did in the full two hours of Doctor Strange.
