Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director Sam Raimi has revealed the ‘corny’ scene that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige wanted to cut.
Partway through the movie, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Baron Mordo engage in a staredown, complete with close-ups of their eyes reminiscent of previous Raimi film The Quick and the Dead.
As Raimi explained on the Doctor Strange director’s commentary (H/T ComicBook.com): "I think Kevin thought maybe it was a little corny, and he wanted to cut it out. But I said, 'Please, Kevin, let me have that.' He went, 'Okay, fine. Have your corny stuff.' It was very, very kind of him."
Not everything was saved from the cutting room floor by Kevin Feige, however. As writer Michael Waldron also revealed in the audio commentary, Multiverse of Madness was originally set to have a much darker ending compared to Charlize Theron's Clea showing up in the Doctor Strange 2 post-credits scenes.
"Strange gets trapped in that [incursion] universe," Waldron explained. "And then [Sinister Strange] turns around, and the third eye opens."
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