A slew of previously unreleased concept art from Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, gives us a look at parts of the films we missed out on. From artefacts in the film to deleted fights between the two main characters and more, it’s a fascinating insight into what we could have seen in the cinema this past May.
Director Shake-Up
Many of us remember the news regarding Scott Derrickson, the director of Doctor Strange, leaving the Sequel due to creative differences. It was well known at the time he was pretty far through the script, and judging by the concept art, the rumours of Nightmare being involved certainly seem to be true.
Nightmare Character Ancient Texts and Illustrations pic.twitter.com/jAw7AW8TRI
— I Have No Idea What Im Doing (@IHaveNoStrange) August 20, 2022
Nightmare is a hugely popular character amongst Doctor Strange fans, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, he was the first villain Stephen Strange ever faced. With the release of Loki, even though Derrickson had long since left, the rumours of Nightmare appearing intensified after a throwaway line referencing the character. Unfortunately, at least in the latest outing for the character, we haven’t seen him yet.
One of the few pieces of Derrickson’s script to stay in the rewritten final product, was the reintroduction of Stephen and his sister. Albeit it was mentioned in some awkward dialogue between our Strange and Sinister Strange, the concept art below hints at what could have been a much bigger part of the script. Strange is oddly bereft of much backstory, with very little known about his life before becoming a superhero, and if nothing else this potential scene with his sister on the lake would have provided a little more emotional depth to the character in something that isn’t about Christine.
Concept art of a #MultiverseOfMadness scene with young Stephen Strange and his sister on a frozen lake by Darrell Warner!
The scene was originally written in Scott Derrickson’s script but dropped under new direction.
(via: https://t.co/rdvXYNifiL) pic.twitter.com/vmQM3H7i5N
— Doctor Strange Updates (@DrStrangeUpdate) July 29, 2022
Scrapped #MultiverseOfMadness concept art and set designs of ‘Wendigo Forest’ and Doctor Strange visiting the lake house where his sister (Donna Strange) died and facing off against Nightmare! pic.twitter.com/hGr1mZLWxY
— Doctor Strange Updates (@DrStrangeUpdate) August 20, 2022
Deleted Fight Scene
It’s not exactly a secret that films often lose scenes to the cutting room floor, or even before they’re filmed they end up cut for pacing and time. There was definitely a lot removed from the latest Strange adventure, and some of it was certainly detrimental to the final product. In any of the MCU projects, we must lose as much if not more content in the preproduction and editing as we actually see.
Showcasing a deleted scene between Strange and Wanda, it does beg the last question of why we weren’t treated to a one-on-one extended battle between the two most powerful magic users in the MCU, if for no other reason that the sheer spectacle of it all.
Storyboards of a Doctor Strange 2 deleted scene by David Allcock pic.twitter.com/yR4IoKsCEw
— I Have No Idea What Im Doing (@IHaveNoStrange) August 19, 2022
This is only a handful of the leaked/released concept art, go look for yourselves and find yourself on a deep dive into what could have been. Time will tell if the almost guaranteed Doctor Strange 3 will delve more into Strange’s personal life, into his past with his sister, and whether or not we’ll get to see Nightmare rear his head, especially now we’ve been introduced to Clea. I for one all of the above, with a little more focus on Strange, not his supporting characters next time out.
Source: @IHaveNoStrange & DrStrangeUpdate
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