After being rumored for weeks, yesterday it was confirmed that Sam Raimi will direct the second Doctor Strange movie, called The Multiverse of Madness. The thought, largely due to the name, is that it'll be a horror film, or at least have some elements of one. Who knows if it will come out on time in 2021 but to me this is terrific news.
Of course, Raimi is not new to Marvel properties, which is partly why this is so surprising. From 2002 to 2007 he directed the original Spiderman trilogy, starring Tobey Maguire. These movies were made by Sony and not Marvel Studios (which didn't exist yet). The first two are utterly fantastic, with the second possibly the best superhero movie out there. The third, while I think it's underrated, has continued to be dragged pretty badly and in effect ended Raimi's involvement with Spidey.
If Doctor Strange 2 (also starring Wanda/Scarlet Witch) is indeed horror, then Raimi is an absolutely perfect choice. Before he ever got started on Spiderman, he did a number of horror movies including another terrific trilogy, the Evil Dead. The first (The Evil Dead) is true camp though it's surprisingly scary, the second (Evil Dead II) non-stop insanity, and the third (Army of Darkness) incredibly fun and quotable. His background is put on full display in Spiderman 2, in the surgery scene when Doc Ock's arms go berserk.
The fact that they're bringing Raimi in with his history has created all kinds of rumors, especially considering Marvel and Sony's fight for the movie rights to Spiderman. In one hare-brained idea, Tobey Maguire would return as Spiderman with Marvel losing the ability to keep Tom Holland. This would of course be a travesty. But since the movie is about the multi-verse and presumably alternate dimensions and realities, who knows what'll happen? I'd love to see Maguire simply make an appearance, like the one we got from JK Simmons as J Jonah Jameson in Far From Home.
No matter what, I'm excited to see Raimi's debut in the MCU because I enjoy so many of his films. Plus, we'll almost certainly get to see Bruce Campbell too!
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