Scott Derrickson has parted ways with Marvel Studios, stepping down as director of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - and his Twitter history may provide some important clues as to why. Derrickson was the director of the first Doctor Strange movie, which released in 2016, and he’s been eagerly pushing for the sequel for years.

Then, on January 9, Derrickson stepped down as director of Doctor Strange 2. It was a surprising twist in the tale, given Derrickson is a known comic book lover with a real fondness for Doctor Strange, and he’d shown every sign of reveling in the opportunity to continue the Sorcerer Supreme’s big-screen adventures. Derrickson appears to have left on amicable terms, and will still be credited as an executive producer, but something had clearly gone wrong. The general view is that Derrickson and Marvel had different creative visions, particularly over just how much Doctor Strange 2 could dive into the horror genre.

A close examination of Derrickson’s Twitter feed may provide important clues as to the real reason for his departure. Derrickson is a prolific tweeter, and he enjoys diving into all the latest controversies. But in between comments about The Irishman’s length and occasional critiques of Donald Trump, there are a number of intriguing tweets that appear to hint at behind-the-scenes problems at Marvel. The first of these was published on November 25, and seemed to be a response to some sort of disagreement.

Early December saw Derrickson issue a couple of ambiguous tweets. On December 3, he opined about the importance of taking risks in film-making. “Sometimes your best creative move is dangerously close to your worst,” he opined. “You have to risk possible creative disaster to discover true creative achievement. You must be willing to creatively fail if you dare reach your creative potential.” It’s a fascinating comment, not least because Marvel Studios seems to be increasingly risk-averse, with Marvel president Kevin Feige essentially creating something of a production line of content.

That tweet stands on its own; but suddenly, around December 16 and 17, Derrickson began publishing some very curious tweets that appeared to be critical of the film industry as a whole. In the first, he quoted Flannery O’Connor on the importance of not compartmentalizing the spiritual life.

This would seem to simply be a throwaway comment, if not for its context. Less than ten minutes later, Derrickson published another tweet, complaining that “Studio release dates are the enemy of art.” Naturally, many followers assumed he was critiquing Marvel Studios, hinting that he wanted the release date of Doctor Strange 2 pushed back. The next day, on December 17, Derrickson quoted David Lean; “You can make a bad film from a good script, but you can’t make a good film from a bad script.” Naturally, that was perceived as a criticism of a script he’d received for Doctor Strange 2. It probably wasn’t related to C. Robert Cargill, given the two seem to have a close working relationship and are still looking forward to future projects together; it’s possible, however, that Marvel had reworked Cargill’s script in a way Derrickson didn’t approve of - perhaps reducing the horror element.

Moving on to December 19, Derrickson tweeted randomly about choices and regrets. “Most major life choices come with major regrets,” he observed. “It’s unavoidable. But the worst choice is not choosing at all. Hell is sitting down at the crossroads.” Whatever was going on in Scott Derrickson’s life, he appeared to have made a decision about it. Several days later, Derrickson began replying to some of these earlier tweets, claiming they weren’t about Marvel Studios at all. It’s interesting to note, though, that it took him several days to come back to them, in spite of the fact he remained prolific on Twitter.

Let’s assume that the tweets really were about Marvel. If that’s the case, then in mid-December Derrickson received a copy of a script he disagreed with; he attempted to push Doctor Strange 2’s release date back, but Marvel wouldn’t budge. It’s frankly possible that Derrickson’s decision to leave was made as far back as December 19, because it was only announced in an official press release, and Marvel would have only gone public when they felt the time was right. If that is the case, Derrickson’s denials that these tweets are related to Marvel can be taken as just another sign that they parted ways amicably. Of course, if this is the case, the full story probably won’t begin to come out for several years - just as with Marvel’s previous director problems.

More: Doctor Strange 2: The Best Multiverse Of Madness Director Replacements

  • Black Widow Release Date: 2021-07-09 The Eternals Release Date: 2021-11-05 Shang Chi Release Date: 2021-09-03 Doctor Strange 2 Release Date: 2022-05-06 Thor: Love and Thunder Release Date: 2022-07-08 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Release Date: 2022-11-11