The Sorcerer Supreme himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, said he wasn't involved in the decision to change directors on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness but respected how Marvel Studios handled the process.
Doctor Strange helmer Scott Derrickson departed the film's sequel in January 2020, citing creative differences. “I was sad to hear about it, but that was not my decision,” Cumberbatch told The Hollywood Reporter. “I completely respected the studio’s decision, and it was done very amicably. The grown-ups called and just talked me through it. And that was that.”
C. Robert Cargill, who co-penned Doctor Strange with Derrickson, talked about the latter decision to leave Multiverse of Madness back in May, saying it was also motivated by his desire to make The Black Phone, a film adaptation of Joe Hill's 2004 short horror story that he and Cargill wrote together. Derrickson was later replaced by Sam Raimi, marking the Evil Dead director's return to the world of Marvel superheroes after helming Sony's Spider-Man movie trilogy from the 2000s.
“He was an assured pair of hands, who knew that world,” Cumberbatch said. “He’s got certain Raimi traits. The smashed-zoom close-up. The mixture of just on the level of horror and just on the level of camp. There’s fun in there, but there should be some real thrills as well.” He added that Raimi encouraged him to improvise through filming on the Doctor Strange sequel. “With the first film, you’re always locked into a script, because it’s the origin story. But there was a lot more freedom this time around. I guess, because we were … not literally making it up as we go along, but sometimes it feels like that."
After Derrickson stepped down, Marvel Studios brought in Jade Halley Bartlett and Loki head writer Michal Waldron to pen a fresh script draft for Raimi. Cumberbatch indicated the Doctor Strange 2 screenplay was still in flux headed into shooting, explaining, "Marvel has this amazing ability to come into production: ‘We really just have to start shooting now. It doesn’t matter that the third act is not quite where you want it to be.’ You really do things on a wing and a prayer sometimes.”
The Black Phone opens in theaters on Jan. 28, 2022, followed by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25 that same year.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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