Filmmaker Sam Raimi has recently confirmed that he will be the director for the Marvel’s Doctor Strange sequel. 

“I loved Doctor Strange as a kid, but he was always after Spider-Man and Batman for me, he was probably number five for me of great comic book characters,” Raimi told ComingSoon.net. “He was so original, but when we had that moment in Spider-Man 2 I had no idea that we would ever be making a Doctor Strange movie, so it was really funny to me that coincidentally that line was in the movie. I gotta say I wish we had the foresight to know that I was going to be involved in the project.”

Raimi will be succeeding original Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson, who decided not to join the sequel due to “creative differences.” In response to Sam Raimi as his replacement, Derrickson said: “I’ve worked with Sam Raimi. One of the nicest people I’ve known in the film business, and as a director, a true living legend. What a great choice to take over Doctor Strange.” 

The first Doctor Strange was released in 2016, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the cunning doctor-turned-sorcerer. With Sam Raimi onboard, rumors are that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will explore the horror genre due to Raimi’s previous work on Poltergeist and the Evil Dead series. Superhero films are also not unfamiliar territory for Raimi, having directed the 2002 Spider-Man trilogy with Tobey Maguire. 

Doctor Strange is expected to return in 2021.