Why Did Sam Raimi Nearly Turn Down Doctor Strange 2?(Photo Credit –Wikimedia)
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Sam Raimi almost ghosted the MCU, and it wasn’t because of scheduling or salary. The real reason? A wave of “awful” fan backlash from Spider-Man 3 nearly crushed his superhero spirit. In 2007, Raimi had wrapped up his Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man trilogy with a third film that tried to juggle too much – Venom, Sandman, a darker Peter Parker, and even a Gwen Stacy subplot. It was a chaotic web that fans weren’t happy to get caught in. The dancing Peter Parker scene? Still a meme legend. But for Raimi, it stung hard.
In a Collider interview, he admitted how brutal the reaction had been: “I didn’t know that I could face it again because it was so awful, having been the director of Spider-Man 3. The internet was getting revved up, and people disliked that movie, and they sure let me know about it. So, it was difficult to take back on.”
That emotional gut punch nearly kept him away from capes and chaos for good. Raimi stuck to horror and thrillers for years, steering clear of superhero madness. But then, Marvel came calling with a multiversal twist. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness needed a director, and Raimi’s name floated to the top.
At first, he wasn’t sure. Could he really step back into the superhero arena after the web-slinging wounds of Spider-Man 3? His agent gave him the pitch. Marvel had an opening. Sam Raimi recalled, “…But then, I found out that there was an opening on Doctor Strange 2. My agent called me and said, ‘They’re looking for a director at Marvel for this movie, and your name came up. Would you be interested?’ And I thought, ‘I wonder if I could still do it.’ They’re really demanding, those types of pictures. And I felt, ‘Well, that’s reason enough.’”
The answer eventually turned into a yes. Sam Raimi leaned into what made him love comic book characters in the first place. Strange wasn’t his all-time favorite, but he had always liked him. That helped tip the scale. “I’ve always really liked the character of Doctor Strange. He was not my favorite, but he was right up there with the favorites. I loved the first movie. I thought [director] Scott Derrickson did a wonderful job, an incredible job. So, I said, ‘Yeah.’ They left the character in a great place. I didn’t think I would be doing another superhero movie. It just happened.”
And just like that, Raimi returned to the big-budget superhero game. He turned his fear into fuel, channeled his horror roots, and delivered one of the most visually twisted MCU rides to date. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness wasn’t just a comeback. It was redemption. So yes, Sam Raimi nearly walked away. But he found the courage to fight through the fear in true comic book fashion. And this time, no memes could hold him back.
