Scott Derrickson has parted ways with Marvel Studios and is no longer directing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, although he will retain executive producer credit. "Creative differences" are the official reason for the departure. Based on some of his recent tweets, deadlines appear to have been a major point of contention, but details beyond that are unclear.

Now that one of Marvel's big 2021 films is without a director, fans are speculating who might take over the job. Given the reports the movie will contain at least some horror elements (if not going into full-fledged horror), people are throwing around the names of big horror directors such as Ari Aster, Robert Eggers and Jordan Peele. Any of those directors would be awesome... but there's no way any of them would take the job.

It seems unlikely such powerful "auteur" filmmakers are going to take over a film that's already lost a director for "creative differences," if they even have any interest in doing a superhero film at all.

Whoever directs the Doctor Strange sequel will need to be someone who can work efficiently within the studio system, make the horror elements work, keep some distinctive personality without going too out there, and finish a film on a tight schedule. Here are five hiring options Marvel Studios might be considering.

MIKE FLANAGAN

Of the bigger names being speculated about, Mike Flanagan feels like one of the most likely options. Neither an arthouse eccentric like Eggers nor a blockbuster mogul, Flanagan has made a name for himself over the past decade making straightforward spooky-but-not-too-terrifying horror movies and doing a consistently good job at it. He's turned potentially cash-grab sequels like Ouija: Origin of Evil and Doctor Sleep into critical successes, so he's the exact sort of director who could take on the potentially thankless role of "replacement for a fired Marvel director" and knock it out of the park.

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RADIO SILENCE

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's filmmaking collective, Radio Silence, had its biggest hit yet this past summer with Ready or Not. This feels like the exact sort of indie genre film success that often leads its directors to jobs on huge blockbusters, and it already has an indirect Disney connection (Ready or Not was released by Fox Searchlight, now owned by Disney). Plus, these guys have a strong sense of humor to go with their flair for scares, which is pretty much essential for any Marvel movie.

LEIGH WANNELL

Leigh Whannell's 2018 action film Upgrade was often called a better version of Venom by those who saw it. Now, Marvel has the chance to scoop up Whannell before he potentially hits really big with Blumhouse's feminist reimagining of The Invisible Man. An up-and-coming director with experience in both action and horror, with a long career writing scripts for James Wan, who's now running the Aquaman franchise and can give him advice on directing superhero movies? This might be the most likely pick.

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JAC SCHAEFFER

WandaVision is supposed to tie into Doctor Strange 2 directly and its release has also been pushed up a year. Could WandaVision's showrunner take the Doctor Strange directing job? The Disney+ shows are supposed to develop talent for feature directing, and WandaVision sounds like it could genuinely be something special. Marvel's also been trying to hire more female directors.

Many of the major women in horror, however, have been skeptical (e.g. Ana Lily Amirpour) or downright disinterested (e.g. Karyn Kusama) in directing a Marvel movie, or seem more interested in developing different Marvel projects (Jennifer Kent wants to do a Manifold movie). Jac Schaeffer, who's already overseeing one related Marvel property and written for another (Black Widow), might be the most likely woman for the job.

PHIL LORD AND CHRISTOPHER MILLER

If Kevin Feige wants a mic-drop directors announcement, this would do the trick. On the most basic level, Phil Lord and Chris Miller would guarantee a great movie. They can take nearly any project and elevate it to levels of quality you wouldn't think were possible, and they've already produced a great movie about a different "multiverse of madness," Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Beyond just what it means for the film, though, this might be the best selection for Marvel Studios' image. The studio had a bad reputation for supporting directors in the Phase 2 era, when Patty Jenkins and Edgar Wright were fired from Thor: The Dark World and Ant-Man respectively. The studio's reputation has improved but Derrickson leaving Doctor Strange 2 so soon brings back bad memories.

So, how does Marvel Studios send the message that "we're still a cool place for directors"? Hiring Lord and Miller, two great directors who were disappointingly fired from Solo: A Star Wars Story over at Lucasfilm, would be perhaps the most exciting move the studio could make.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen. The film hits theaters on May 7, 2021.

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