It’s safe to say that any studio that releases a superhero movie does so with the expectation of creating a franchise. Even though the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one all-encompassing entity, it is made up of several series within that, with nearly every solo film– ‘Iron Man’, ‘Thor’, ‘Captain America’– chalking up three cinematic installments as well as building into the larger ‘Avengers’ brand. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ arrives in early May and should things go according to history, ‘Vol. 3’ should materialize in 2019 or so.
Even ‘Ant-Man’, a lower key hit has a sequel due in 2018, ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’. So a sequel to a runaway smash like ‘Doctor Strange’ ($664.6M and counting) should have gotten a greenlight as simply as Doctor Stephen Strange can whip up a dimensional portal, but so far that hasn’t happened.
‘Strange’ director Scott Derrickson explains that a follow-up will likely materialize, but that both he and Marvel are simply too busy at the moment to focus on one.
“I have no idea where it fits in. I’ve sort of been off the grid. I very much needed a break after that. But I’m starting to read TV pilots. I love dramatic television, and I’ve gotten quite a few good offers on really good pilots. I may do a pilot before Doctor Strange 2, if Doctor Strange 2 is going to happen.”
“Right now, I don’t think the people at Marvel are calling anybody for anything. They’re making way too many movies at once right now [to do that]. [Given] how intimately involved they are in the development and shooting and post-production of those movies, they’ve got their hands very full right now.”
Indeed, in addition to the lower-stakes ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’, Marvel Studios has the very high-stakes ‘Black Panther’— the first solo MCU movie starring a minority lead– in Feb. 2018 and ‘Captain Marvel’— the first starring a female lead– in March 2019. But the biggest juggling act on the studio’s slate is ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ which is also due in 2018, followed by yet another ‘Avengers’ movie in 2019, with both movies shooting back-to-back… and featuring every big screen Marvel hero up to this point.
‘Doctor Strange’ was not only a box office smash, but was highly praised with many calling it Marvel’s best movie in years. It’s natural that fans would clamor for more.
What about you? Do you want a ‘Doctor Strange’ sequel? And when do you think would be the right time?
‘Doctor Strange’ materializes on February 28 on DVD and Blu-Ray complete with deleted scenes and a blooper reel.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
