Fired Solo Director Congratulates Scott Derrickson for Leaving Doctor Strange Sequel

Phil Lord, the Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse filmmaker who was (along with his [...]

Phil Lord, the Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse filmmaker who was (along with his frequent collaborator Christopher Miller) fired from Solo: A Star Wars Story, had some words of encouragement for Scott Derrickson. He told the filmmaker, who yesterday announced that he had parted ways with Marvel Studios over "creative differences" and would no longer be directing Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness, that he had joined an exclusive club. Derrickson is not the first filmmaker to publicly part ways with Marvel Studios, but it's a unique situation because he had already successfully collaborated with the studio on the first film and got deep enough into pre-production on the sequel that it was expected to start filming in the next few months.

Marvel says that production will still go forward, and that they are looking for a new director now. Derrickson had little else to say, although screenwriter C. Robert Cargill joked that the pair would be developing a sequel to last month's expensive musical flop Cats.

Lord and MIller were similarly booted from Solo deep into the process -- actually deeper than Derrickson, in the sense that they had filmed a lot of the movie. They reportedly crashed with Lucasfilm over the film's tone, and the job ultimately went to Oscar winner Ron Howard, who made a fairly by-the-numbers Star Wars movie.

It is widely theorized that Derrickson's problem with Marvel had to do with tone, too. There have been mixed signals regarding to what extent Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness was going to eschew the traditional Marvel Studios look and feel to go for a more horror movie aesthetic. Before coming to Marvel, Derrickson was known for movies like The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister and Deliver Us from Evil, so it has become a kind of gospel to fans already that he was sparring with producer Kevin Feige over just how scary the movie could get.

Given the sudden popularity of R-rated comic book adaptations like Deadpool, Joker, and Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), some fans on social media are assuming that Derrickson was angling for a harder edge, but given the fact that every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie has been PG-13 and the plan is to have them all appear on Disney+, that idea is likely a non-starter -- something a seasoned pro like Derrickson would have known. The exact nature of their conflict will likely not be fully revealed for years, if at all.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to open May 7, 2021.

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