While Marvel Studios Phase 5 films have not done the type of business at the box office that the studio had become accustomed to, Phase 4–which ended with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever–was lucrative. Despite COVID delays and a fairly last-minute change in its creative team, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was among those successes, raking in over $400M domestically on its way to falling just shy of $1B globally ($952M). Much of the success of the film was attributed to director Sam Raimi who despite coming on late put his signature touches on a film that looked to be in trouble. Raimi was so impressive that Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, has been rumored to be interested in working with the director again. As Marvel Studios looks to get back on track following the strikes, those rumors are heating up again and have become a bit more interesting.
According to insider Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios is considering Raimi not only for another installment in the Doctor Strange franchise but also to direct both parts of the two-part finale to the Multiverse Saga. Though Doctor Strange 3 has not been officially announced by the studio, it’s widely believed that it’s going to be included in the Multiverse Saga and rumored to be happening BEFORE Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which is currently slated to hit theaters on May 1, 2026. If the rumors of where Strange 3 would fall are true, that would currently leave only February 13th, 2026 as a potential release date. The current slate would seem to face Raimi with choosing either the threequel or the Avengers films, which RPK addressed in his report.
Given the delays Marvel Studio has already faced due to the strikes and the reworking of several projects, perhaps they’ll find a way to shuffle things around and allow Raimi the opportunity to do all three films. Strange is purportedly a key character in the Multiverse Saga, though so far he’s only made two appearances (Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). While that might seem like a tall order for one director, it would be similar to what the Joe and Anthony Russo did in Phase 3 directing Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) after debuting as MCU directors with 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It’s safe to say that by giving the Russos room to work and grow with the Infinity Saga’s central characters, Steve and Tony, the entire saga benefitted. Perhaps that’s something they will keep in mind in this rumored scenario with Raimi and allow him to work with Michael Waldron on similarly developing Stephen Strange.
