The one thing reviews seem to agree on is that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is that it is definitely a Sam Raimi film. Yet, the director has often spoken of the collaborative effort that is working with Marvel Studios, especially on bringing the script to life together with Loki writer Michael Waldron. In an exclusive interview with Murphys Multiverse, he talked about how that creative process was and just how much input Raimi had on the film’s script.
We were just sharing a brain, it felt like by the end of it because we worked so closely through such a weird, challenging time. And I was always trying to write through the lens of this being a Sam Raimi film. When I wrote Dead Strange and Strange possessing his own corpse, it looked exactly what I hoped it would look, in a Sam-type way.
Michael Waldron
It definitely seems like he had a big part in writing the script while Waldron tried to stay true to how he would generally tackle a project. You can see many dialogue choices felt quite at home in a film he would direct, some even paying homage to his time with Spider-Man, Evil Dead, and so many more. It also turns out that the Deadites-inspired Demonic Souls that are turned into Dead Strange’s cape in the finale were the director’s idea.
The demonic souls, that was all Sam’s idea […] that was Sam pitching that back to me and saying: ‘Could we do this?’ and we building some logical scaffolding to make this really cool thing he wanted to do. That. was a great example of how we both worked to realize one another’s ideas. Ultimately, because it is Sam Raimi and he’s one of the greatest directors to ever do it, I just felt so confident, I felt like I could write anything because he would make it look amazing.
Michael Waldron
That moment definitely felt like a creative decision by him, and it’s great how Waldron highlights their collaborative effort pushed the boundaries of how these ideas came together. He definitely added his unique visual style to the film and added a flair that hopefully, Marvel Studios will revisit, as the director has openly stated he would love to return for more in the future.
