Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness loses director Scott Derrickson

Scott Derrickson is stepping away from his role as director of the upcoming Marvel film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Derrickson, who directed the first film, will continue to serve as the sequel's executive producer.

Variety reports the studio and Derrickson (Sinister) had an amicable parting of ways, according to a statement provided to the trade from Marvel.

“Marvel Studios and Scott Derrickson have amicably parted ways on ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ due to creative differences,” said Marvel. “We remain grateful to Scott for his contributions to the MCU.”

Derrickson also tweeted out the news himself:

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is slated for a May 7, 2021 release, and was revealed this past summer at San Diego Comic-Con. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film's release date remains unchanged, and the film's production will continue to go ahead in May. 

The sequel to 2016's Doctor Strange sees the return of Benedict Cumberbatch as the master of sorcery and Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch. Cumberbatch previously voiced his excitement over the direction the sequel was taking at SDCC. 

"I'm really excited to be at the dawn of this project, and I think it's important to maintain the integrity and the humor but with this twist of horror," said Cumberbatch.

Marvel Studios president, Kevin Feige, recently teased the film's horror elements at an event at the New York Film Academy, saying it won't be the kind of horror flick moviegoers might traditionally think of; it will take its cues from '80s-era cinema masters like Steven Spielberg. 

Speaking of the kind of scary elements fans can expect, Feige said, "The way, when I was a kid in the ‘80s, Spielberg did an amazing job. There are horrifying sequences in Raiders [of the Lost Ark] that I would, as a little kid, [cover my eyes] when their faces melted. Or Temple of Doom, of course, or Gremlins or Poltergeist."

Multiverse of Madness is itself a reference to the masters of horror and weird, director John Carpenter and author H.P. Lovecraft.