Sam Raimi Talks About Returning to Marvel After SPIDER-MAN 3 Backlash
As you know, director Sam Raimi is back at Marvel, and he’s currently directing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. When he was brought in to replace Scott Derrickson, I couldn’t have been more excited because I’m such a huge fan of Raimi and his work. Raimi is also the guy who played a big part in bringing legitimacy to comic book movies with his Spider-Man films.
His third Spider-Man film, however, didn’t fly with a lot of fans and received a lot of backlash. During a recent interview with Collider, Raimi shared his thoughts on returning to Marvel after the Spider-Man 3 backlash, saying:
"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. 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.' 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."
I honestly think that Raimi is going to do some great things with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and I have no doubt that he’s going to deliver a great movie!
I know that Spider-Man 3 gets a bad rap, but the first half of that movie is pretty damn good. My favorite story arc in it was Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman, and I think that the film would have been perfect if Sandman had been the only villain in the story. Introducing Venom in the movie as well was a mistake.
Regardless, I’m happy that Raimi is back making another Marvel movie and that movie is set to be released on March 25, 2022.