The rewrites of Doctor Strange 2 will always be a hot topic of discussion for every MCU fan. It has a huge contribution to the mixed reception created by the Elizabeth Olsen movie. The movie was marketed as the MCU’s first perfect jump to the concept of the multiverse. But quite surprisingly, the movie garnered highly polarizing reviews and didn’t come out as expected.
According to an interview, the rewrites were so frequent and troubling that after a point Elizabeth Olsen didn’t even bother to read the scripts. Earlier also, we have seen how studio interference can affect the director’s and the writer’s vision of the movie. This also led to the Sam Raimi directorial going from a much-anticipated spectacle to just another forgettable Marvel flick.
The script changes were painful for Elizabeth Olsen to follow
Studio interference is a major issue that is a common occurrence in the industry presently. There have been many projects that witnessed their downfall due to severe interference from the studio. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness started to suffer from its very early stages when the original director Scott Derrickson left the project due to creative differences.
Soon after that, Marvel roped in the Spider-Man trilogy fame Sam Raimi as the director with Michael Waldron as the writer. This led to major changes in the plot of the movie. Now recently as Elizabeth Olsen was spotted in the Happy Sad Confused podcast, she revealed that following up with the rewrites was getting too painful at a point.
“I mean, there were definitely moments where…there’s a point in making the movie where I just stopped reading drafts. I was just like, ‘This is going to change again. Just keep me posted with the information I need and you guys fill in the blanks that you need. But I’ll just keep my lane.’ That one was a wild ride.”
Not only Elizabeth Olsen but her Doctor Strange 2 co-actress Xochitl Gomez also called out the rewrites implemented by the Kevin Feige studio. Responding to numerous fans who continued to criticize Michael Waldron regarding the writing of the movie, the America Chavez actress admitted that the script of the Benedict Cumberbatch movie was being re-written for a record 33 times- “Y’all need to stop hating on Michael Waldron…They asked for 33 rewrites…none of it is up to him.” This even led a major actor to not have his planned MCU debut.
The series of re-writes led Daniel Craig to miss his MCU debut
One of the major changes due to the script rewrites was Daniel Craig missing his potential MCU debut. The James Bond star was all set to make a cameo as one of those ill-fated members of Earth-838’s Illuminati. He was expected to be seen as Balder the Brave, Thor’s half-brother.
Speaking about the character being almost cast in the movie, Elizabeth Olsen stated:
“Yes, that’s what I thought was going to happen. I saw the art. They made a costume. They had a design.”
Even the costume designer of the 2022 movie Graham Churchyard also supported Elizabeth Olsen’s words. It is revealed that developments on the character were already started but never saw the light of day. It can’t be denied that there also must be other significant changes that could have elevated the quality of the movie if executed. But it also presents a lesson for the studio to let its directors work on their own vision.
Besides the writing department, we have also witnessed the VFX artists calling out the studio for rigorous changes which went on even to a day before the release of the movies. With a lot of issues pondering over the superhero universe right now, the studio needs to plan its actions more carefully and work on the monstrous line-up that’s planned.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness can be streamed on Disney+.
Source: Happy Sad Confused Podcast
