At one point in 2007's Spider-Man 3, the conclusion to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) dresses himself up as a kind of visual embodiment of emo and jazz-struts down the street. In some ways, this was not a surprising choice for Raimi; since his Evil Dead trilogy, the muckraking director has been interested in blending unpredictably silly comedy with the more serious genres his films existed in. But this choice, alongside the film's rushed appearance of Venom (among many other studio-exacerbated issues), resulted in mass fan derision. Folks do not remember Spider-Man 3 very kindly; an unfortunate fate given how acclaimed and influential Raimi's first two films are.

So why, after all this negativity, would Raimi want to hurdle himself back into the world of Marvel superhero filmmaking? Lots have changed since Raimi made these films, including the building of an entire goddamn Cinematic Universe. Even so, as Raimi told us in an interview for Nightbooks, alongside director David Yarovesky, the sting of Spider-Man 3 still smarts. But thankfully, not enough; he's the director of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and he told us why he said yes to the job.

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Image via Marvel Studios

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Raimi spoke frankly about the mental challenges faced when considering a return to Marvel filmmaking, and why those challenges ultimately motivated him:

"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."

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Image via Sony

Raimi also spoke about an allowance for and love of improvisation on his Doctor Strange 2 set, a seemingly odd decision given the level of budget, stakes, and previsualized control at play for this kind of film. But as Raimi explained, every time an actor steps in front of a camera, it's improvisation — so why not lean in?

It's always an improvisation, just to begin with, so I don't even think of it like [a specific choice]. The actor brings what they bring. That's their improv. It's what the role is. Granted, Scott Derrickson set up a very very strong foundation with great characters and story and visuals with Benedict Cumberbatch, but nevertheless, it's a new story. Every time the actor steps in front of the camera, everyone's making everything from scratch. So just for me, because that's my point of view, another improvisation, a different take, something unexpected, something thrown at the actor for them to respond to live on camera is exciting. It's just a continuation of that same process.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released on March 25, 2022. Be on the lookout for more from our interview with Raimi and Yarovesky soon.

Christina Radish contributed to this reporting.

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