After months of speculation, director Sam Raimi has finally confirmed that he is indeed taking on directing duties for the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness movie for the MCU. While discussing his new anthology horror series 50 States of Fright with ComingSoon.net, the filmmaker mentioned his love for the Master of the Mystic Arts.
"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. 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."
The scene in question takes place in Spider-Man 2, which Raimi directed. After newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson learns of the nefarious Doctor Otto Octavius wreaking havoc on the city, he asks his writing staff to come up with a catchy name for the newly minted supervillain. One of the suggestions is 'Doctor Strange', which Jameson likes, but ultimately dismisses because it was already taken.
That was the first time a Marvel superhero movie referenced another hero, and fans lost their collective minds (Hey, it was a different time back then. We didn't have the MCU or Batman V Superman). The reference was ultimately nothing more than a namedrop, and it was not setting up a future crossover between Dr. Strange and Spider-Man. Fast forward one and a half decades later, and Avengers: Infinity War finally brought the two heroes face-to-face on the big screen, along with the rest of the MCU roster.
Sam Raimi is considered comic book movie royalty for his work on the original Spider-Man movie trilogy. Spider-Man 2 is widely considered one of the greatest films in the genre ever made. Add to that the director's horror movie credentials, particularly the Evil Dead franchise he kickstarted, and it becomes clear why so many MCU fans considered Raimi the perfect choice to helm the weird, wonderful continuation of Doctor Strange's solo adventures.
The sequel to Doctor Strange is said to contain strong elements of horror and is set to introduce the MCU to the Multiverse. This is big news for the franchise since that leaves the door open for alternate Earths to now enter into the equation, which can potentially be used to introduce new heroes like the X-Men or the Fantastic Four to the mix.
Raimi won't be the only person connected to the original Spider-Man trilogy to work in the MCU. J.K. Simmons, who played J. Jonah Jameson in those films, is reprising the same role in the new Marvel films. Now, all we need is for Tobey Maguire to also have a brief cameo along with Simmons in the new Doctor Strange movie, and the circle will be complete This news originated at Coming Soon.