Though it's still close to a year until the Doctor Strange sequel, titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is released, it's a film people have been buzzing about for a while. The recent ending of the Disney Plus series Loki has really amped up the hype, but before then there were a few other elements of the film really intriguing people.
The first Doctor Strange film was released in 2016 and, while it's very well-reviewed critically, it's not one that people talk about all that much. This is in part because of the character being a new one who hasn't had too much advancement past his origin story. With all that being said, the Doctor Strange sequel has had a cloud of excitement surrounding it since it was known that it would be so important to the MCU. This is mostly in regards to it seeming to focus on the much suspected and buzzed-about introduction of an MCU multiverse.
It also started getting some buzz though when the director was announced: Sam Raimi. In the superhero world, Raimi is highly well known for his work on the early 2000's Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey McGuire. Outside of that, he's a director and producer highly respected in the world of horror movies. This originates from his creation of the Evil Dead franchise. While he may not be directing too many horror movies anymore, he's been involved in the production of many. When it was spotted that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was partly billed as a horror, people were even more excited at the thought of a scary MCU film.
Since it was public knowledge that the Doctor Strange sequel was billed as a horror and people were excited about it, it's been milked just a little bit. The Scarlet Witch herself, Elizabeth Olsen, was quoted recently as saying "It’s a very scary movie. It’s old Sam Raimi. They’re trying to create the scariest Marvel movie." That's giving MCU fans excited for a horror film in the franchise quite a lot of material to be hyped about. It seems like this is going to be a new direction for the MCU that could be highly effective, but there is one factor making all of this seem a little unlikely. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is, ultimately, a Disney movie.
Though there have been more intense movies and horror movies made under the Disney umbrella, usually by one of the many companies they own, it's a little different when it comes to the MCU. The MCU has been a largely family-friendly franchise in its entirety. Outside of the films themselves, Disney has also capitalized on the popularity of the MCU in the form of merchandise. Walk into the Disney Store, and customers will see a plethora of Marvel superhero clothes, toys, and home items. Some of these are intended for adult fans, for which horror is marketable. But the biggest chunk of it is intended for kids.
If an incredibly scary movie is made, complete with gore and all, Disney loses that market. Most parents aren't incredibly into their young children loving horror movies, especially ones that might be violent. And besides what parents want, it's hard to believe that kids will enjoy something super scary in the same way that adults do. Will little kids want a picture with Doctor Strange at Disney World if he's associated with horror? That's just incredibly unlikely. While there's been so much hype around the next Doctor Strange film being a horror movie, looking at it logically it feels like it can't really be that scary. Disney and Marvel would be losing out on so much widespread appeal and marketability, it wouldn't really make sense in terms of business.
While great children's horror does exist, that doesn't really seem to be the vibe or overall intention of the MCU. And besides the children's market as a whole, there are so many adults who just plainly don't like horror movies. While they've been showing a little bit of creativity as of late with their shows like WandaVision and Loki, the MCU as a whole doesn't get too controversial or divisive. They make works that are universally easy to love, and that works for them. While there are many who probably would enjoy a horror movie in the franchise, there are just as many who probably really hope there isn't anything too spooky being made. Based on their track record, it seems pretty unlikely that they'll be straying from the usual tone all that much.
Overall while the idea of an Evil Dead-like crazy horror film featuring Doctor Strange seems pretty awesome, the "horror" aspect of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has likely been a bit overblown. Disney and Marvel have been milking it a bit, as has the media because the idea is intriguing. When thinking logically about it though, going in that direction in a full-blown terrifying and maybe gory way feels very unrealistic. Those who are getting super excited at the thought of that, should maybe start to manage their expectations.