While 2016’s Doctor Strange film — while unique in some regards — failed to make a big impression, offering little (beyond a few, trippy setpieces) that audiences hadn’t seen before. The film’s claim to fame? Introducing supernatural elements to the Marvel Cinematic Universe; long present in Marvel’s comic book continuity. Stuck with telling Strange’s origin story, Derrickson’s film feels like a prelude to something bigger and better — hampered by the character’s prior lack of mainstream exposure and, therefore, unable to fully commit to the more outlandish aspects of his world.
With James Gunn’s Doctor Strange via a shift in genre, transplanting their Sorcerer Supreme into a horror movie for the sequel, courtesy of director Sam Raimi.
Raimi’s place in the pantheon of legendary horror directors cannot be overstated, having created the celebrated Doctor Strange apart from his more conventional superhero counterparts.
Raimi’s visual style is unparalleled, utilizing odd angles and kinetic camera-work to create heightened worlds that, fittingly, feel like a comic book brought to life. While the MCU has received a paint-job in recent years (becoming comfortable with bolder color palettes), aside from a few choice sequences, the staging and shot-types tend to be fairly functional. Raimi is likely to rectify this; the camera feeling like a character in its own right, rather than simply a recording device, in much of his work. What’s more, Raimi has extensive special effects experience — from low-budget efforts, like The Evil Dead, to studio blockbusters like Elizabeth Olsen’s returning Scarlet Witch.
While tonal clashes are an obvious concern when introducing horror (a strong flavor) into the MCU, Raimi’s sensibilities tend to skew towards horror-comedy and, thus, should bridge the gap well. Comedy has been at the heart of the MCU’s success since day one, and actually functions much in the same way as horror: with a set-up, followed by a punchline, after which the audience either laugh or scream. Raimi understands this connection and is able to blend the two seemingly disparate tones, as seen in the Evil Dead movies (with Evil Dead II among the best horror-comedies ever made). Even his Spider-Man trilogy contained a lot of tonal juggling — with Doc Ock’s violent lab awakening from Spider-Man 2 sitting alongside frothy rom-com montages and spectacular action setpieces. Like Thor before Ragnarok, Doctor Strange needs a jolt in the arm — and Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness looks set to provide it.
