Back in June, Benedict Cumberbatch confirmed that he would be returning as Doctor Strange in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. That wasn’t much of a shock, since he had appeared in Infinity War and Endgame. It seemed a natural continuation as the Avengers continue their fight.
The shock came last week when it was rumored that Sam Raimi would be returning to direct the third installment in the Doctor Strange franchise. Once the news made it to Reddit, the Internet had a lot to say. Most of it, unsurprisingly, was positive, with many fans expressing that if Raimi were to be given full creative control it would be what Multiverse of Madness wasn’t allowed to be. One even mentioned that the character “has so much potential for a good movie,” and they’re right.
I have been a huge Doctor Strange fan since the first film. I appreciated what Multiverse of Madness gave us, and I loved that it stretched beyond what the normal borders of a Marvel movie is. However, I do agree that it would have been stronger without the fan service and with a better script. Raimi is a fantastic director who gave us the original Spider-Man trilogy! He’s produced countless great horror films! Let him do things his way!
The thing is, Raimi’s style truly belongs with Doctor Strange. As much as I love the first film, I felt the world, and the character, were truly elevated in Multiverse of Madness. Scott Derrickson did a fantastic job of bringing us into Stephen Strange’s world; Raimi fleshed it out. However, people are right to be hesitant about his potential return.
Raimi needs full creative control
One of the issues with Multiverse of Madness was, as mentioned prior, the script. When you have a director as legendary as Raimi at the helm, he should be given full creative control. If he does come back for the third installment he needs to be able to work with his own vision. The moments when things got kooky were absolutely some of the strongest. It was a shame to see most of those moments muted under a strict Marvel-friendly PG-13 rating.
Since it doesn’t seem like there will ever be a Spider-Man 4 (which, at this point, is probably a good thing), Marvel should give Raimi the freedom to turn his full creative insanity towards Doctor Strange. The moments that shone through were fascinating, and I loved the way it elevated the film. Now imagine that with no script meddling. Let Raimi be, pardon my corny joke, strange.
