Scott Derrickson returning to direct ‘Doctor Strange 2’ but wait isn’t he dead yeah I know wink wink

Scott Derrickson is returning to direct Doctor Strange 2, folks. It’s a nice but expected development, right? Unless you’re one of those folk that bought into the idea that those culled by Thanos’ snap are dead for good. And so this news of a sequel must be startling. But like, those people don’t exist, do they?

AV Club:

Seemingly confirming yet another Marvel hero who’ll almost certainly make it out of Avengers: Endgame alive, Marvel Studios has lined up production details on the planned sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange. Per The Hollywood Reporter, said plans include finalizing negotiations to bring Scott Derrickson—who directed the original film, about Benedict Cumberbatch engaging in a timeless, epic battle with his arch-nemesis, the American accent—back for Doctor Strange 2.

Marvel has been understandably quiet about which projects it has in development in the aftermath of Endgame, which is expected to rack up a pretty big (and more permanent) bodycount as it brings to a close the first three “phases” of the MCU. The universe’s biggest post-snap film project to date has been one the studio doesn’t own for itself (and, thus, presumably doesn’t control the marketing for), with Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home making it abundantly clear that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will be alive and well in the aftermath of the film. Now it sounds like Stephen Strange will be doing pretty well for himself too, presumably after pulling off whatever big plan he was hinted to be cooking up at the end of Infinity War.

Derrickson—whose other credits include Sinister and The Exorcism Of Emily Rose—also wrote the first Doctor Strange movie; it’s not clear yet whether he’ll be reprising that role as well for the sequel, which is tentatively being aimed at a 2021 release.