Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2021)

[Silver Nemesis]

I don't know if anyone followed Marvel Studio's presentation at Comic-Con, but they announced several upcoming films and TV shows to kick off Phase 4. So far they've only revealed what's coming as far as 2021, but Kevin Feige confirmed other movies such as X-Men and Fantastic Four are in production. Most of the films they announced didn't particularly interest me, but this one did.

When the first Doctor Strange movie was announced there were rumours it would be Marvel Studio's first excursion into the horror genre. Scott Derrickson has made some effective horror films in the past – most notably The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) and Sinister (2012) – and I got hyped about the idea of a darker, scarier movie that would deviate from the standard MCU formula. The finished product was slightly darker than most other MCU films, and it certainly had a more distinctive look in terms of the cinematography and production design, but it didn't delve into Lovecraftian horror as deeply as I'd hoped it would. It crept up to the edge of the genre, but never quite crossed into it. But apparently the sequel will. Derrickson explicitly described Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (scheduled for May 2021) as a horror movie and "the first scary MCU film". Cumberbatch said he was excited about the "twist of horror".

Derrickson also used the word "gothic" several times when describing the film. When was the last time we had a truly gothic live action superhero movie? Spider-Man 3? Hellboy 2? Daredevil '03? It's been far too long. Kevin Feige confirmed the film will be PG-13, but then so was The Exorcism of Emily Rose and that still managed to raise a few hairs. So far they're saying all the right things to get me hyped about this. We'll have to keep an eye on how it develops, but for now at least I like the direction they're heading in.

[thecolorsblend]

Okay.

New game, new rules.

If this film goes in a more gothicy, supernatural horror type of direction... yeah, I think I'm interested.

[Silver Nemesis]

In future I'd like the MCU to be more like the comics, where you just pick the ones you like and ignore the rest. It used to be like that during Phase 2. But they made it very difficult to take such an approach during Phase 3, since everything was connected so tightly to the Infinity Stones storyline. It reached the point where it felt less like watching a series of movies and more like watching a TV show. Now the Thanos story arc is concluded, and there are no Avengers movies in Phase 4, I'm hoping they can diversify their content a bit and make these next few films more individualistic.

I have zero interest in the next Thor movie or Eternals, but I am interested in Doctor Strange, Blade (which apparently will NOT be part of Phase 4) and whatever they've got planned for Daredevil. It sounds like Phase 5 is going to be structured around the IPs Marvel recovered from Fox: X-Men, Fantastic Four and (hopefully) Daredevil.

But as far as Phase 4 is concerned, Doctor Strange 2 is the only one I'm hyped about. Superhero genre + gothic horror + dark fantasy = something potentially awesome and unlike any previous Marvel film. Bonus points if it takes place in autumn.

[The Joker]

I agree with the sentiment that this is really the only movie on Marvel's slate that I am interested in.

No interest in another MCU comedy starring Fat Thor, and tokenized Thor. Black Widow? Not really. Eternals? Don't know anything about them, and although they got Angelina Jolie to star in it (had a thing for her back in the day), I am not exactly running out to see her movies anymore. All the Disney + shows? Slight interest in Loki, more interest in What If, but like HBO/Watchmen, not enough to get me to subscribe to that service or anything.

So Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness it is.

[The Laughing Fish]

Sorry to disappoint everybody else here who is hoping the sequel will be a horror film, but it doesn't look like it's going to break away from the MCU formula.

During a Q & A at NYFA, [Kevin] Feige said the movie has scares, but don't expect a fun house of horrors with the comic book movie. Here's Feige's comment on the sequel:

I wouldn't necessarily say that's a horror film, but it is, as Scott Derrickson, our director, has pitched it, it'll be a big MCU film with scary sequences in it.

Source: https://gritdaily.com/doctor%E2%80%8B-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness-is-not-a-horror-movie/

And it gets even worse - Scott Derrickson has announced he WON'T direct the sequel.

Marvel and I have mutually agreed to part ways on Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness due to creative differences. I am thankful for our collaboration and will remain on as EP.

Source: https://twitter.com/scottderrickson/status/1215428331450953728

As somebody else on Twitter said, the warning signs were there during last year's Comic Con. Feige sucks.

https://twitter.com/Mister_BatfIeck/status/1215493921603760128

What a shame. The first Doctor Strange was one of the very few MCU films in Phase Three I quite enjoyed. Sure, it might've borrowed heavily from Inception in some scenes with the rotating cities and Stephen Strange's character does have strong similarities with Tony Stark (snarky, quick-witted, and suffers from a bit of alcohol addiction - although that film did a much better job than exploring that than any of the Iron Man films), but the film was definitely a visual treat and by far creative than nearly all of the crap that Marvel has put out recently.

[The Laughing Fish]

It appears Derrickson expressed his appreciation for Oscar Isaac's unflattering comments about Disney recently, in a tweet that he has now deleted.



I also caught this Reddit thread that captures some screenshots of his tweets hinting some agitation over working under studio restrictions; the most obvious one saying "Studio release dates are the enemy of art".

https://www.reddit.com/r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers/comments/emmpia/tweets_where_scott_derrickson_hinted_about_his/

Yes, you can tell he wanted to leave the Marvel/Disney formula. I believe he doesn't want to work in a franchise production ever again.

[thecolorsblend]

The thing people don't talk about with Marvel films is that while they have somewhat better retention with directors than Lucasfilm does, Marvel has still parted ways with lots of directors: Joss Whedon, Kenneth Branaugh, Jon Favreau, etc. Working with Marvel doesn't mean playing in Marvel's sandbox; it means playing in Kevin Feige's sandbox. It's his game and you play it his way or you don't play.

Hence we're not getting a Dr. Strange supernatural horror film. And apparently that's not the film Derrickson wants to make.

[Silver Nemesis]

To be honest, it was Derrickson's vision of a superhero/horror film that had me most interested in this movie. I could recognise Derrickson's hand in the things I liked most about the first film, such as the dark visuals and the central character arc where the rationalist hero has his convictions challenged by the supernatural. The things I liked least about the film, such as the forced humour and pop culture references, is where I sensed the studio's house style in effect. If the sequel is going to be a committee-planned homogenised product off the assembly line, then I probably won't bother seeing it.

[Silver Nemesis]

If this pans out, it might just restore my interest in Doctor Strange 2: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/doctor-strange-2-sam-raimi-1203475309/

[thecolorsblend]

I also want to believe that Raimi will be allowed to be Raimi.

But tbh, I don't see why Marvel would treat him any better than any of their other former directors. They told Kenneth freaking Branaugh to take a hike. He's not a no name, no talent director. He's got a pretty impressive filmography as a director and is respected in the industry. If he got pushed around, there's probably no reason to hope that Raimi will somehow be an exception.

Not trying to rain on your parade, you understand. I just think Marvel is better at sweeping their director problems under the rug than Lucasfilm. But fundamentally, both studios have more or less the same problem. The most I can say is that it's less of a problem for Marvel. So far, anyway.