Kevin Feige Opens Up About Why Director Scott Derrickson Left Doctor Strange 2

gamerant.com:

The MCU has seen some wonderful filmmakers helm some of the biggest and most successful projects in the shared cinematic universe, one being Scott Derrickson, the man behind 2016's Doctor Strange. But with Derrickson turning down work on the sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige has now opened up about his departure.

Following the release of Doctor Strange, Derrickson immediately had ideas brewing for a potential sequel, as the director signed on to return back in 2018. But unfortunately, he stepped down in 2020 due creative differences and was replaced by the visionary Sam Raimi (Evil Dead franchise, Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy) and acclaimed writer Michael Waldron (Rick and Morty,Loki).

Doctor Strange Director Scott Derrickson Open To Returning To The MCU

Now with Doctor Strange 2 roughly a month and a half away from its big theatrical release, Feige commented on Derrickson's departure, explaining more of what really was discussed with the filmmaker. «It came down to Scott, and Scott's like, 'Well, I can make this movie that I'm compromising what I wanted to do on, or I could make The Black Phone,' and he goes, 'You know, I want to make a movie with Cargill. I'm gonna go make The Black Phone,'» Feige said in an interview with Empire Magazine for its May 2022 issue (via Slash Film). «It was, as he said publically, it was a hard choice to leave Strange behind; but it made it easier that he had a movie that he was looking forward to. And then the experience was just so great that we're just so proud and happy with what we made.»

It makes sense for Derrickson (and any filmmaker, really) to pursue another project rather than direct a film that did not grant him total