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Who Forced Scott Derrickson to Leave Doctor Strange 2 (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2020-01-13 21:00:01 +0000 UTC
Yes, we know the HOW and the WHY. But as far as Scott Derrickson leaving Doctor Strange 2, I wanna know the WHO. As in, who is responsible.
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Readers, I’ll be the first to admit that Marvel Studios’ depictions of my favorite heroes in the MCU haven’t necessarily been my favorite
While a lot of people resonate very well with his depiction in Infinity War and Endgame -- including my friend Scott on NerdSync who made a whole-ass video about it -- I didn’t really like how Marvel Studios treated Thor, even in his own movies
And even though he did get a proper amount of character development in his own movie and showed off just how badass he is in Infinity War, I strongly disliked how Marvel Studios pretty much nerfed Doctor Strange by turning the Eye of Agamotto into the Time Stone, as opposed to it being one of the key aspects of not only his mythology, but the entire magic side of Marvel like it is in the comics
/That’s why I was disappointed upon finding out Scott Derrickson -- the director of Doctor Strange and its upcoming Phase 4 sequel “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” -- decided to step down as director of the sequel due to “creative differences” between himself and Marvel Studios/
Disappointed, but not surprised. Because I was NOT surprised AT ALL
Now, there’s a reason as to why this video isn’t about WHY he left, because despite there being no concrete reasoning, the explanation as to why is TOTALLY there if you look close enough
/As a matter of fact, there are PLENTY of videos that properly explain that answer with credible sources that’ve made their way across the internet! The one that does it best in my opinion is the Nerdist News video on the exact subject hosted by Dan Casey/
Yes, it involves bumping the release date of Disney+’s WandaVision from 2021 to 2020
Yes, it involves Kevin Feige doing press junkets having to explain that Multiverse of Madness isn’t EXACTLY a horror movie like people took the presentation at 2019’s San Diego Comic Con to mean
What’s important to ME however, is who is responsible; Marvel Studios or the entity that is Disney
And in order for us to figure that out, not only do we have to take into consideration everything that’s happened with Doctor Strange and the sequel’s overall importance to the narrative of Phase 4 onward
But we also have to take a look at 3 different properties and franchises that’ve been meta-ly meddled with in similar ways
Those 3 are Black Widow, Ant-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy
Remember when I said that Black Widow’s solo movie should’ve come out a1£ Phase 3 of the MCU after Civil War during my reaction video of the first trailer?
Well, the reason why we’re finally getting this Black Widow movie now instead of when we were SUPPOSED to get it that would’ve helped us care more about her character when she met her end in Endgame is because of previous Marvel CEO, previous business partner of my arch-nemesis Avi Arad, and all-around racist and sexist Piece of Shit, Ike Perlmutter
Despite Kevin Feige fighting for her to get her own film franchise ever since taking the helm of Marvel Studios, Perlmutter opposed him every time he brought it up because Black Widow is a girl, and girl properties don’t sell well.
He also said the same thing about Black Panther, as well. Which is why it took us so long to get one of the most celebrated Marvel Studios films of all time
It wasn’t until Disney relieved Perlmutter of his duties and had Kevin Feige report directly to them for things he wanted to do with Marvel Studios that we finally got to see things change a bit. Even moreso when he was recently given Perlmutter’s job and became CEO of Marvel in general.
But that’s not to say that Feige didn’t have to make hard decisions, because causing Edgar Wright to leave Ant-Man in Phase 2 of the MCU was definitely the responsibility of the studio. Not Disney
Now we’ve heard for the longest time that the reason why Edgar Wright left Ant-Man 1 was because as writer-director of the project, his script had Ant-Man as a stand-alone film completely unassociated with the MCU.
That was pretty much hearsay until Wright shared his experience working with Marvel Studios on the character on a podcast for Variety
/Stating that despite adding bits of what he had written for the movie, Marvel Studios commissioned a script for the movie separate than the one he was solely working on, causing him to lose interest in directing the project because as a filmmaker who has always been a writer-director, it wasn’t TRULY his work./ Variety - Edgar Wright Ant-Man
And this isn’t the first time Marvel Studios under the guidance of Kevin Feige had to do this; James Gunn had a similar treatment when he was initially hired to make Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1; ANOTHER Phase 2 MCU film.
/Just like Edgar Wright, his contributions to the script gave him a writing credit alongside Nicole Perlman. The only difference between Gunn and Wright is that Gunn stayed on board from beginning to end. And Kevin Feige was so impressed, that not only did he offer Gunn Vol 2, but allowed him to write it completely./ GotG 1 and 2 trailers
And THAT was impressive enough, that Kevin Feige offered him the opportunity to help shape the cosmic side of the MCU after Avengers Endgame, along with writing and directing Vol 3. Until Kevin Feige’s bosses initially fired him from Marvel Studios in 2018.
Yes, I said Disney. Because Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios had NOTHING to do with James Gunn being fired.
He did try to get Gunn rehired back when news of him being let go was fresh, but after Alan Horne pretty much went “lol NO,” Feige was all like “Welp, I tried...”
Which also means he didn’t have a role in Alan Horne re-hiring him in 2019.
/As a matter of fact, he was just as equally happy about him being brought back on as we the fans were!/ i09 - Kevin Feige on James Gunn
So what does all this mean in the case of Scott Derrickson leaving Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, you might be wondering? Better yet, how does all of this past drama regarding Marvel Studios and its parent company Disney help us determine who to point our finger at?
Well, like James Gunn, Ryan Coogler, the Russo Brothers and Taika Waititi, Feige was PROUD to show off Derrickson after Doctor Strange, and was delighted he and co-writer C Robert Cargill had so many ideas that could possibly work for future movies
As a matter of fact, once it was announced that Multiverse of Madness would have more of a horror tone than the first one during San Diego Comic Con 2019
/Kevin Feige didn’t really start telling the press that it wasn’t REALLY a horror film until late December of 2019. Literally TWO WEEKS before Derrickson would quit his gig as director/ Doctor Strange - Cinemablend Quote
Meaning that from Summer of 2019 to Christmas of 2019, Kevin Feige and as a result, Marvel Studios, didn’t have a problem with Derrickson’s direction for Doctor Strange.
So considering he no longer has to report to Ike Perlmutter to get things done for Marvel Studios, but still has to follow the wishes of a certain corporation if he still wants to keep his job as the past has shown us
The fact that Feige took so long to start telling the presses “No, the Doctor Strange sequel isn’t REALLY a horror movie,” tells me that Kevin Feige -- and as a result, Marvel Studios -- had nothing to do with Scott Derrickson stepping down as director. It was Disney.
With all of the backpedaling Feige has been doing regarding assuring how Multiverse of Madness is gonna be handled, along with the fact that WandaVision -- one of the two Disney+ tie-in shows that’ll play a part in the movie -- has had its schedule changed from 2021 to 2020, it's clear that Disney is having more of a final say regarding what goes on with the film companies currently under their belt going forward.
Just like one executive almost kept Jojo Rabbit from being released after the acquisition of 20th Century Fox because it wasn’t “Disney Friendly,”
The creative differences that made Derrickson abandon the project as a director no doubt have something to do with being forced to accommodate WandVision’s new release date, but also with having to tone down his ideas he previously shared with and were encouraged by Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, in order for the film to not only serve as the immediate go-to film after people finish Loki and WandaVision, but to properly keep the film associated with their family-friendly branding.
And since this isn’t the first time he was forced by Disney to play damage control with what was said, Kevin Feige now has to assure the press that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness isn’t a horror movie per se, but a usual PG-13 superhero movie with scary scenes, similar to the Stephen Spielberg blockbusters of the early 80’s that birthed the rating to begin with.
Just like he had no choice if he wanted to keep his job when Alan Horn initially fired James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
If you take all that past information and factor in to how things played out regarding the case of Multiverse of Madness, it’s clear that the fault for Scott leaving isn’t Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige or even the previous boogeyman of Marvel Entertainment Ike Perlmutter. This is the fault of the House of Mouse through and through.
And honestly, considering how powerful they’ve become as of late, it was only a matter of time.
Disappointing, but not surprising.
