Original ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Screenwriter Discusses Her Marvel Experience
While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would eventually hit the big screen under the watchful eye of Sam Raimi, the film that audiences saw was not the film’s first version.
Initially, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson was set to return for the franchise’s second installment, with Jade Halley Barlett writing the first screenplay.
“I was on the project for about a year. I was the first writer on ‘Doctor Strange 2’, and it was really fun,” Bartlett told ComicBook.com.
Derrickson and Marvel Eventually Parted Ways
When Derrickson left the project in January 2020, the tone of the Multiverse of Madness changed.
With Raimi and Waldron now on board, the film began to incorporate elements of horror and established Wanda Maximoff as the main antagonist.
According to Bartlett, she and Derrickson developed Doctor Strange 2 over the course of a year, and then the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
“There are two versions. There’s the Raimi, Michael Waldron version, which is exquisite, and I love both of them. Then, I was with Scott Derrickson. We developed it for about a year in the room with Kevin [Feige] and Eric [Hauserman Carroll] and Lou [D’Esposito] and Richie [Palmer]. It was Scott and it was really exciting and it was really fun. I still cannot believe I got that job. I don’t know how I got that job. I did get the job. We had a whole draft, and then of course the pandemic happened, which was a nightmare.”
A Positive Experience
While Barlett’s film never got to see the light of day, the screenwriter had nothing but good things to say about her time at Marvel.
She would also, however, not reveal any of her script’s details.
“I am not allowed to say anything about the draft. I’m so sorry. I can’t tell you anything, but I can tell you that working with them, everybody there really loves their job,” Bartlett continued. “They’re so kind and they’re very generous. It was like getting to work with scholars, I guess, scholars of these comic books. So that was really fun. I think I have this giant binder of, I think, every Doctor Strange ever, which is pretty amazing, and it’s in color. They printed it in color, so that was really exciting.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now streaming on Disney+.
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