Filmmaker Scott Derrickson is eager to explore the comic book villain Nightmare in a sequel to Doctor Strange.
The new Marvel blockbuster stars Benedict Cumberbatch as titular superhero Stephen Strange, a former neurosurgeon whose hands are crushed in a horrific car crash. The accident leads Strange to embark on a journey of healing, only to be drawn into the world of the mystic arts.
The film, which also stars Tilda Swinton and Rachel McAdams, only opens in North America this week (begs31Oct16), but it has already become a huge hit outside the territory, opening internationally with an impressive $86 million (£70.6 million) over the Halloween holiday weekend (28-30Oct16).
Marvel Studio officials have yet to confirm plans for a Doctor Strange sequel, but the project is expected to be given the green-light in due course after the new movie won strong reviews from fans and critics alike.
Now Derrickson is hoping for a return to the franchise and he already has an idea for the follow-up, after pitting Strange against his enemy Kaecilius in the first installment.
“I really like the character of Nightmare and the concept that the Nightmare Realm is a dimension…,” he tells IGN.com. That’s early – that’s like the first Strange tale. I think that’s in the introductory episode of Doctor Strange, and I always loved that.”
The director explains he didn’t want to use Nightmare, the evil ruler of the Dream Dimension, in his current Doctor Strange film because it would have been too much to explain in one movie.
“We decided not to do that because that’s a bit of a complex idea to try to introduce everything we do introduce and introduce the idea of nightmares themselves as being a dimension,” he explains, before expressing his desire to take charge of a Doctor Strange sequel.
“I hope somewhere down the line we do get to explore that because I think that’s super cool concept,” he adds.
Cumberbatch is already set to reprise the character in the forthcoming Avengers: Infinity War, in which he will star alongside Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Chris Pratt as his Guardians of the Galaxy character Star-Lord.
