Be prepared for an unusual ending. Here are the plans for Doctor Strange. At the beginning of the year, actress Elizabeth Olsen discussed her time filming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. According to her, “only until before we even went back to finish WandaVision during the pandemic that I found out what I am doing in Doctor Strange 2 .” Meanwhile, the actress also expressed how “we’re always giving notes and they are very kind to welcome opinions and thoughts, and so it’s always an evolution even while you’re filming.”

While on the set of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Benedict Wong spoke about his personal experience on set. He also shared how Sam Raimi enabled performers to improvise during the film. “I like throwing alts, and he likes them, so we just have a bit of a laugh,” he said. During a recent interview with Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch, he explained how Raimi gave the actors this liberty.

The Battle of the directors 

While discussing plans for Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about a very important announcement. He shared his thoughts about Scott Derickson no longer directing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As much as Cumberbatch was sad to hear about it, he understood that it had been quite peacefully resolved. This is what he said;

“I was sad to hear about it, but that was not my decision… I completely respected the studio’s decision, and it was done very amicably. The grown-ups called and just talked me through it. And that was that.”

To sum it up, Cumberbatch described Sam Raimi as “a confident pair of hands that knows that universe.” Further, Cumberbatch described how Raimi’s approach permeated into the Doctor Strange sequel. “He’s got certain Raimi traits. The smashed-zoom close-up. The mixture of just on the level of horror and just on the level of camp. There’s fun in there, but there should be some real thrills as well,” the actor expressed.

How is the new filmmaker different?

But Cumberbatch liked that the experienced filmmaker encouraged him to improvise. He notes, “With the first film, you’re always locked into a script because it’s an origin story.” A lot more flexibility was given to Cumberbatch this time around, compared to his previous picture. However, he admits that production was occasionally done “by wing and a prayer,” with the third act’s script not being finalized when he began filming. His thoughts exactly were:

“But there was a lot more freedom this time around. I guess because we were … not literally making it up as we go along, but sometimes it feels like that. Marvel has this amazing ability to come into production: ‘We really just have to start shooting now. It doesn’t matter that the third act is not quite where you want it to be.’ You really do things on a wing and prayer sometimes.”

The final outcome

There has been a lot going on with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as it is one of the rare projects where the director has departed. Patty Jenkins left Thor: The Dark World, while Edgar Wright left Ant-Man. To be fair to Cumberbatch, he did say Derickson’s departure was amicable, which is excellent news.

A lot of work had to be done quickly, as the script had to be completely redone. The continued epidemic, on the other hand, was a gift in disguise for the production, as it gave writer Michael Waldron and filmmaker Sam Raimi additional time to develop the story and characters. Delays in filming meant the screenplay was still a work in progress, which is reasonable.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is scheduled to enter theaters on March 25, 2022, so hopefully, everything worked exactly as planned.