Director Sam Raimi is known for his horror films, as well as Spider-Man films. In this interview he talks about coming back to Marvel and bringing the spooky with him.
Sam Raimi is a horror legend when it comes to directing. Not only that, he has a trilogy of pretty incredible Spider-Man movies, so Marvel is not new to him. When asked to direct Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, he was excited, especially when he learned Marvel was going to embrace horror elements in this film. So what was it like coming back to Marvel? What had changed over the years? And how did his horror background help with this latest installment in the MCU?
Sam Raimi On Coming Back To Marvel
The first thing Sam Raimi discusses during the Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness press conference is what has changed, and what has stayed the same. “The technology has changed and it has become a lot easier.” Surprisingly, he says that the technological advancement that allowed him to work most effectively on this film is Zoom. Because of this he could have meetings with a hundred people at once, and have the ability to show them storyboards, editors could bring up a piece of the cut — the audiovisual communication is a massive help with a project like this.
“As far as the most important thing that changed is the thing that didn’t change. The most important thing is having great actors and them knowing that the most important thing they can do is recognize the humanity within themselves. That’s how people connect to our superheroes. These are great actors and they know what it’s like to be a human being. They’ve got a vast set of experiences that they’re not afraid to pull into their performances.” – Sam Raimi (Director)
Raimi goes on to say that they know their characters very well by now — especially Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Benedict Wong. they have played their characters for years now in so many important Marvel movies. “It’s great to see that knowledge of their characters that they had in this film because what they meet is the multiverse.” Sam expresses before he adds, “In the multiverse it’s basically a mirror where they meet altered versions of themselves. These actors are so good they know they just have to change the slightest aspect of their character’s personality to make an interesting conflict with the alter self.”
An Ever Changing Script
Sam Raimi also talks about how the script was constantly changing while they were filming Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness. He admits that a scene would sometimes be changed minutes before they were going to film it. Raimi explains that the actors are opinionated, and they know their characters better than anyone else. Because of this they would recognize if something felt untrue to their character, or like a manipulation, or that it could be more real. Marvel would make changes in the moment in order to riff no that very good idea.
“When you’ve got great team members, as a Director, you want to pull the best of their ideas together and make something better than you could have made on your own. And that’s exactly what working on this movie was like for me. Great actors. Great ideas. A script that was constantly changing. But it was a very lively process.” – Sam Raimi (Director)
Raimi adds that he had to take the other movies in to consideration as well. The other films that Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness has storylines from — like WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home — some were being made concurrently or had just finished shooting. The Multiverse of Madness team would have to have meetings with these directors to figure out what they needed to know and where the characters were at.
An example that Sam Raimi gives is that they needed to know what Doctor Strange knew by the end of No Way Home, and if he even remembers the multiverse. There were plenty of questions that Screenwriter Michael Waldron had to tie in to their script, in the moment.
“That change rippled through our movie. It’s probably for a writer like improv is for an actor. These movies are reacting, making up, changing things, and you have to be in the moment and take it in and go with it.” – Sam Raimi (Director)
Sam Raimi On Bringing The Horror Element To The MCU
Marvel has been very open about Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness embracing horror, which is why so many fans are thrilled that Sam Raimi is the man who was chosen to direct this film. He has an extensive background in horror, which makes him the perfect man for the job. Raimi says that when Kevin announced this movie would be the first entry into Marvel putting their toe into the world of horror, he was thrilled that he called him to come in and talk to him about directing.
“I was able to take those horror films that I made in my youth, and what I had learned from them — building suspense sequences, titillating the audience. Gonna give them the scare now… no… NOW.. gonna give it to them. That stuff I was able to apply to the spooky sequences in this film. So it was very helpful.” – Sam Raimi (Director)
The wait for the first installment of horror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is almost over. Fans will be able to finally see Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness when it hits theaters on May 6th.
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About Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
In Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending anddangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysteriousnew adversary.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams.
The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Eric Hauserman Carroll and Jamie Christopher serve as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Michael Waldron.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” releases in U.S. theaters on May 6, 2022.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.