Scott Derrickson is part of a tiny group of filmmakers who were chosen for a Marvel Studios project but actually backed out. After massive success directing the first “Doctor Strange” film, Derrickson was quickly asked to come back to helm the sequel, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” However, after quite a bit of development, Derrickson and Marvel Studios decided to part ways, citing creative differences. The filmmaker would go on to work in his beloved horror genre, and Marvel picked Sam Raimi to helm the ‘Doctor Strange’ sequel. And now, years after that departure, Derrickson harbors no ill will towards Marvel, Kevin Feige, or even Sam Raimi.
Speaking in an upcoming episode of The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast (full interview coming soon), Scott Derrickson talked about directing a segment in the new “V/H/S/85” anthology, but he also talked a bit about his breakup with Marvel Studios. And despite what fans might want to believe, there was no major behind-the-scenes drama. It really was just a difference in ideas regarding the direction of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”
“All I can say is that what we said publicly is exactly the truth,” explained Derrickson. “We had real creative differences. You know, the movie I wanted to make and how I wanted to make it was different than–it was just increasingly obvious that we were pulling against each other. And that’s how you make a really bad movie, I think. When the producer or the studio and the filmmaker are making different movies, you end up with a monstrosity and, you know, that’s why I had to bounce.”
Derrickson would go on to say that his version of the Marvel sequel was an “extreme departure from the first film” and would have been “a genuine horror film of sorts.” Unfortunately, he and Marvel just couldn’t see eye-to-eye about aspects of the film.
You have to respect a filmmaker willing to step away from a massive gig (a job that many people would gladly shed their creative integrity for) over true differences in vision. And obviously, Marvel and Derrickson recovered just fine. ‘Multiverse of Madness’ made a ton of money with Sam Raimi as director, and Derrickson would go on to have a horror hit with “The Black Phone.”
As for any sort of fallout from his decision, Derrickson said that he is still friends with the folks at Marvel and even attended the premiere of ‘Doctor Strange 2’
“Yeah, I went to the premiere. I’m still friends with Kevin [Feige] and everything with me and Marvel is really cool,” he said. “They invited me to the premiere and I went. And I’m friends with Sam [Raimi]. I love Sam, so there’s no bad blood over that.”
As mentioned, Derrickson’s most recent project is a segment in the forthcoming “V/H/S/85,” which is set to arrive on Shudder on October 6. The full episode of The Discourse will be arriving later this week.