President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige has stated that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will make Evil Dead 2 fans very happy. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be the second standalone Doctor Strange film in the MCU. It comes on the heels of the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) opened a doorway to the Multiverse. Multiverse of Madness will follow Strange as he deals with the repercussions of his actions, including coming face to face with an alternate version of himself who poses a threat to humanity. The film is helmed by legendary director Sam Raimi and is set to release on May 6th.
Many moviegoers know Raimi as the man behind the very successful Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire in the 2000s. However, Spider-Man is not the only successful trilogy that bears the Raimi stamp. The original Evil Dead trilogy was the series that catapulted Raimi to fame. The first film in the franchise is considered by some to have redefined the horror genre. The second two films in the series are where Raimi truly honed his skill for combining horror and comedy, particularly in Evil Dead 2, which acts as almost more of a parody of the first film than a sequel. Over the years, Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy has gained quite a cult following.
In a recent interview with Empire, Feige has revealed that Raimi has somewhat returned to his Evil Dead roots in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Feige has stated that Raimi was allowed quite a bit of free reign on the film and described the movie as very "Sam Raimi," adding that it “will make fans of EVIL DEAD II very happy.” It's unclear exactly what this will mean for the film, however, it certainly has people speculating. See Feige's full quote below:
"We would give notes like, ‘This action is cool - you're competing with Avengers and Spider-Man — but don’t forget the Sam Raimi part’”
It's hard to imagine that Multiverse of Madness will be as violent as Evil Dead 2, as Doctor Strange currently has a rating of PG-13, and the Evil Dead films are legendary for their gore effects. While Marvel has been criticized in the past for somewhat suppressing directors' voices (Edgar Wright reportedly left the production of Ant-Man after the script was rewritten to remove any trace of his unique tone), Feige has stated that Raimi was truly encouraged to be as uniquely himself as he could. Feige has admitted that while watching some of the action scenes in Multiverse of Madness, he believed they could compete with those in Spider-Man and The Avengers, but he would often remind Raimi to not "forget the Sam Raimi part."
Multiverse of Madness has currently returned to production for reshoots, which could potentially indicate that the film will be becoming even more "Raimi." Hearing that the director has been encouraged to return to his horror roots will certainly be exciting news for his fans, as Raimi has not directed a feature film in nearly a decade, and has not released a horror film in even longer. It seems that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be a very special treat for Raimi fans, and audiences will get to see just how "Raimi" he can get when the film is released in May.
Source: Empire
