The original plan for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was for the first movie's director, Scott Derrickson, to be back behind the camera. Reported "creative differences" saw the filmmaker walk away from the sequel, with the prevailing theory being that he didn't want to tell a story about the Multiverse.
Well, it appears that wasn't entirely the reason (we've heard it might have been the Scarlet Witch) because concept artist Darrell Warner has shared an early design from Derrickson's script that featured a powerless Strange Variant.
"'Marvellous Melvyn' was a piece I completed very early on in the first lockdown following one aspect/alternative 'Strange' universe within the Scott Derrickson script that subsequently changed with the arrival of Sam [Raimi]," he explains. "It is quite rare to be allowed to follow one’s intuition as regards to a given character and I need to extend many thanks to the Costume Designer Graham Churchyard for allowing me to develop and produce this concept."
"All in all it was an absolute joy to complete and so very pleased it has found some recognition," he concluded, referring to the fact his work is one of the finalists for "Live Action Feature Character" at this year's Concept Art Association Awards.
We've heard that this street magician Variant of Stephen Strange was nearly part of Raimi's movie, so we can't help but wonder how many ideas writer Michael Waldron borrowed from that original screenplay. As it stands, Benedict Cumberbatch got to play a number of Doctor Strange doppelgangers, though it might have been fun seeing what this one had brought to the table.
Take a closer look at Marvellous Melvyn below along with our interviews with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness star Xochitl Gomez and the movie's costume designer Graham Churchyard.