Director Scott Derrickson has dropped out of the upcoming Marvel Studios film Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.
Derrickson made the announcement this evening via twitter, citing the usual, ambiguous “creative differences.”
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.
— N O S ⋊ Ɔ I ᴚ ᴚ Ǝ ᗡ ⊥ ⊥ O Ɔ S (@scottderrickson) January 10, 2020
Although it had been previously stated that the upcoming fourth phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe would not be as interconnected as the previous films that built up to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame had been, studio president Kevin Feige had stated that the upcoming Disney+ series WandaVision would feed into Multiverse Of Madness in some way and that the character of Scarlet Witch, aka Wanda Maximoff, played by Elizabeth Olson, would factor into the film’s plot.
Derrickson got his start as a director of low budget horror fare such as The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (2006), Sinister (2012) and Deliver Us From Evil (2014). Perhaps not the most obvious choice for Marvel to recruit to direct a $165 million-budgeted superhero film, Derrickson still turned in a final product that both critics and fans approved of. The film would gross nearly $678 worldwide.
The loss of Derrickson from Multiverse Of Madness is something of a disappointment. As all the Marvel Cinematic Universe have something of a house visual style, Derrickson pushed those boundaries in interesting ways as he brought the various other dimensional worlds of the first Doctor Strange to the screen. His creative kaledoscoped reality for the action sequence in New York City or the film’s climactic battle in Hong Kong as time runs backwards around the combatants were images that haven’t really been paralleled in the franchise.
Derrickson still has other projects on his plate, including the upcoming Stephen King adaptation The Breathing Method.
Marvel Studios has not issued any comment, so it remains to be seen if the previously announced release date of May 7, 2021 will hold firm.
