Doctor Strange 2 writer says the movie got scarier after Sam Raimi joined

Doctor Strange 2 writer Michael Waldron has talked more about the Marvel sequel.

"COVID just gave me and Sam [Raimi] more time to make it our own thing," Waldron told Friends From Work. "It's cool, I'm glad that there was the chance to maybe push it in a slightly scarier direction, just because Sam does that so well."

Scott Derrickson, who directed the first Doctor Strange movie, was on board to helm the sequel, officially titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, he departed the project due to creative differences and was replaced by horror icon Raimi – who, along with his Spider-Man trilogy, is best known for helming The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2.

"[Veering into the horror world is] obviously something that Scott Derrickson, the director of the first movie, does so well, obviously that influence, you feel it even in the first one," Waldron explained. "Even though it's not a horror movie, there is like this sort of spookiness throughout it. It's part of what makes that movie work so well."

He added: "The work [Derrickson had] done on the first one, the work that he and the previous writer on the second one, Jade Bartlett, they'd done some work on the second one, and it's like you dive in." Waldron has previously said that he and Raimi started "from scratch" on the sequel.  

"It's a Sam Raimi movie, and it really is," Waldron also commented. "This is Sam Raimi's return to big superhero movies. I think everything you might want out of a Sam Raimi movie, you're hopefully going to get out of this one."

This isn't the first time we’ve heard the movie will be scary – Elizabeth Olsen, who will reprise her Scarlet Witch role in the film, described the sequel as being "bonkers" with a "horror show vibe."

Waldron is also the head writer on Loki, which is currently streaming on Disney Plus. He teased to our sister publication Total Film that the projects might be linked: "All of these stories, in their own way, are interconnected, and have ramifications. I think that certainly our aim with the Loki series was for it to have wide-reaching ramifications across the MCU moving forward. So, you know, was I having to clean up some of the messes that I made [with Loki]? Maybe so."

Doctor Strange 2 arrives March 25, 2022. Loki is releasing its six episodes weekly, and you can see our Loki release schedule for when exactly the next episode drops. In the meantime, check out how to watch Marvel movies in order – and find the best Disney Plus prices and deals.

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