It's thought that Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson wanted to make the sequel a full-blown horror movie focusing on the villainous Nightmare. However, when Marvel Studios decided to introduce the Multiverse, the project headed in a new direction and filmmaker Sam Raimi was enlisted to put his own unique spin on a movie we now know as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Given his own history with horror and what we've seen in the trailers, it's clear the director is going to pay homage to the genre he made a name for himself in. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has promised a nod to Evil Dead 2, and the sequel's PG-13 rating teases "frightening" content.
Film Ratings confirms that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will include "intense sequences of violence and action, frightening images and some language." This sounds pretty typical for a Marvel Studios blockbuster, though we are intrigued by just how much Raimi has been able to push the boundaries here and deliver the sort of visuals we're not used to seeing in the MCU.
While it probably won't be the full-on horror movie it was once billed at, the Scarlet Witch being covered in blood and what appears to be an undead Stephen Strange point to this being a darker experience than its 2016 predecessor. With screenings not taking place until the world premiere on May 2, don't expect to see social media reactions or reviews until much closer to the sequel's big screen debut.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to be released in theaters on May 6.