Doctor Strange 3: Sam Raimi Rumored to Return as Director

The Spider-Man and Evil Dead director might return to the MCU.

By Jenna Anderson

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's biggest sorcerer might be returning to the big screen sooner than we thought. On Friday, a new report from Jeff Sneider suggested that Marvel Studios have "all but closed a deal" for Sam Raimi to return to direct a third Doctor Strange film. Raimi previously helmed 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, taking over the franchise from initial Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson.

No other details are given about when Doctor Strange 3 would be released or what it would be about, but this does provide the first clear inkling of the film's existence since Multiverse of Madness made its debut in theaters and ended on a cliffhanger ending. Given the timing of this rumor, and the fact that franchise star Benedict Cumberbatch has already hinted he will make an appearance in 2026's Avengers: Doomsday, there might be a chance that Doctor Strange 3 is one of the films released between Doomsday and 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars.

What Would Doctor Strange 3 Be About?

No plot details are known about Doctor Strange 3 at this point, although fans can probably safely expect it to follow up on Multiverse of Madness' cliffhanger ending, which saw Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange and Charlize Theron's Clea joining forces to fight incoming incursions.

"I hope so. I would love to do another one," Cumberbatch told New Indian Express in a 2022 interview. "Doctor Strange is such a complex character and it feels like there is so much more to explore with him. He is such a brilliant character and I'm still having a wild time playing him."

Will Sam Raimi Direct Spider-Man 4?

Following the success of Multiverse of Madness, fans have also been curious to see if Raimi will return to his earlier Marvel movie franchise — the trilogy of Spider-Man films he made for Sony Pictures in the 2000s. While a theoretical Spider-Man 4 directed by Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire has yet to be confirmed in any capacity, the director has been open to the possibility of returning to that world, as long as the story justifies it. 

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"I think if we were to make a fourth Spider-Man film, we'd have to figure out the journey that Tobey Maguire's character would be going on and what obstacles he had to overcome to achieve that growth personally," Raimi explained in an interview earlier this year. "And I hope that the villain would be chosen based on a representation of that obstacle."

Doctor Strange 3 does not currently have a release date.

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