There’s the Multiverse of Madness that was. There’s also the Multiverse of Madness that never was. After initially returning to helm the sequel, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson left the project early in 2020. Michael Waldron came on to rewrite the script and Sam Raimi took over as director and the film that premiered in May of 2022 was vastly different than the one Derrickson originally set out to make.
Dating back to his original pitch for the first Doctor Strange film, Derrickson had been trying to find a way to include one of the Sorcerer Supreme’s classic comic book villains, Nightmare, into a story. Now, thanks to newly released concept art from Ryan De Silva, fans can get a look at some early designs of Nightmare, who Derrickson had intended to use as the villain of the sequel.
The designs indicate that Nightmare was set to be the villain, rather than the Scarlet Witch, though the film was still set throughout the multiverse. Now that there’s proof that Nightmare was the intended villain, it would be incredibly interesting to find out exactly how Derrickson hoped to use the Lord of Dreams while exploring the multiverse. As it stands, fans of the character, including Derrickson, will have to hold out hope that the villain will find another way into the MCU.
Source: Deviant Art
