Will Bruce Campbell Appear in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange Sequel?

News broke this evening that Spider-Man trilogy director Sam Raimi has entered negotiations to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the upcoming sequel to the 2016 film from Marvel Studios. Should his deal close Raimi will step behind the camera in place of filmmaker Scott Derrickson (who directed the first Doctor Strange), who departed the sequel due to creative differences with the studio. With Sam Raimi comes a history though, not only because of his extensive work on the Spider-Man franchise, but also his flourishes and trademarks as a director. So we have to wonder, which of those will make it into a movie from Marvel Studios as directed by him?

Without a doubt the biggest of these trademarks is the casting of actor Bruce Campbell, who has appeared in most (but not all) of Raimi’s movies as a director. The pair have worked together since before 1981’s The Evil Dead but would go on to collaborate on all three of those movies and the Starz sequel series, Ash vs Evil Dead. Campbell would also appear in all three of Raimi’s Spider-Man movies in different roles, with a previous report revealing that he had been considered for the role of Mysterio in Raimi’s Spider-Man 4.

It should also be noted that when Campbell isn’t the leading man of the Raimi movie he appears in then his screen time amounts to just a cameo. So while it is too early to say if Campbell will appear in the Doctor Strange sequel, because of his Raimi connection it seems like a definite possibility. Campbell has been pretty vocal in the past about not wanting to “suit up” in a superhero costume for years on end, previously saying that the reason he did the Spider-Man movies was purely for Raimi.

“That’s Sam Raimi all the way,” Campbell shared with ComicBook.com about what drew him to those films. “Big blockbuster movies, whenever I see an actor get cast in one of those, I wince, because I go, ‘Oh, that poor son of a bitch is going to be in that suit for 10 years.’ If shooting schedule’s seven months of shooting, you get your one month in the Bahamas, and then you’re promoting for three months, then you go right back to the next sequel, back in that same f-cking suit.’”

Luckily for Campbell, he could just appear in one of the alternate universes that Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will find himself in, and not be tied to a multi-picture contract. As we said, it’s too early to tell if Campbell will appear, especially with Sam Raimi not officially declared the director by Marvel Studios, but we’d call this an easy bet if we were the wagering type.

An appearance by Bruce Campbell isn’t the only trademark of Sam Raimi that we would be on the lookout for, as the director has even more visual motifs and Easter eggs used throughout his extensive career. Raimi has found a way in all of his movies to his car, a yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, in some way, which we look forward to seeing him do in the Doctor Strange sequel. The director is also fond of inserting Three Stooges references into his movies as well as frenetic POV camera shots. Furthermore, he also has some other folks that make cameos in his movies to keep an eye out for, specifically his brother, Ted Raimi.

Which of these trademarks of Sam Raimi do you think we’ll see in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Sound off in the comments below!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently scheduled to be released on May 7, 2021.

(Cover Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for STARZ)