It’s official! Sam Raimi is directing Doctor Strange 2

Sam Raimi has made it official. He will be directing Doctor Strange 2.

Sam Raimi had been mentioned as being the number one candidate to direct Doctor Strange 2 after Scott Derrickson dropped out due to creative differences. Of course, after that bombshell, the internet was on fire with rumors about casting specifically surrounding Cillian Murphy and Emma Watson.

All of this chatter occurred back in February. Then everything went silent on that front. Who knew the industry would come to a screeching halt due to the COVID-19 outbreak?

Now, the MCU flick is back in the news courtesy of Coming Soon.net. Raimi confirmed that he was definitely helming the Benedict Cumberbatch sequel in an interesting way.

In an interview with the entertainment site on his latest Quibi series, 50 States of Fright, when asked about a specific scene in Spider-Man 2 that references the sorcerer, the director offered up extra information.

The segment in question occurs in Spidey 2 between J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) and Ted Hoffman (Ted Raimi) as they are brainstorming possible monikers for Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina). Oddly enough, in what seems like foreshadowing, Hoffman suggests Dr. Strange which immediately gets shut down by Jameson because “it’s already been taken.”

Here is what Sam Raimi had to say about the almost prophetic dialogue:

"“When we had that moment in Spider-Man 2 I had no idea that we would ever be making a Doctor Strange movie. I gotta say I wish we had the foresight to know that I was going to be involved in the project.”"

Pre-production on Doctor Strange 2 is continuing remotely with filming taking place in June. It would appear that Cumberbatch is still attached to the project along with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong and Elizabeth Olsen.

Doctor Strange 2 (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) will be released on Nov. 5, 2021.

Are you excited for Sam Raimi to return to the MCU? Let us know in the comments.