How Doctor Strange 2 Saved A Missed No Way Home Opportunity (For Raimi)
The May 6th 2022 release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gave Sam Raimi an opportunity that Spider-Man: No Way Home could not take. The return of the heroic sorcerer Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) saw him battling his old ally Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) in her violent turn to villainy. Multiverse of Madness was also a big movie for director Sam Raimi personally on several levels.
Not only was Multiverse of Madness Raimi's first movie as director since 2013's Oz The Great and Powerful, but it also marked his return to the Marvel circle after 2007's Spider-Man 3 -one greatly heralded by those who enjoyed his work on the adventures of Tobey Maguire's Web-Slinger. Despite none of No Way Home's three Spider-Men appearing, Multiverse of Madness is a commemoration of sorts for Raimi's previous superhero films. This is primarily due to the film's release date in early May 2022, 20 years after Raimi's original Spider-Man debuted on May 3, 2002, which is a window No Way Home was unable to utilize in a similar manner.
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Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men returning and teaming up with Tom Holland's Peter Parker against villains from past Spider-Man films in No Way Home ensured the movie was as much of a love letter to Spider-Man as is possible to write. Releasing No Way Home in early May 2022 could have added some extra emphasis to that, with such a release capitalizing on Spider-Man's aforementioned 20-year anniversary. The interlocked format and release schedule of the Marvel Cinematic Universe stood in the way of that happening, but Multiverse of Madness still enabled Raimi as a filmmaker to take advantage of
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