Sam Raimi doubted that he would return to the superhero genre after the disappointing reception to 'Spider-Man 3'.
The 61-year-old director is helming the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) sequel 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' but was wary of returning to the genre after the lukewarm reaction to the conclusion of his 'Spider-Man' trilogy.
Sam told the website Collider: "I didn't know that I could face it again because it was so awful, having been the director of 'Spider-Man 3'. The internet was getting revved up and people disliked that movie and they sure let me know about it. So, it was difficult to take back on."
He continued: "But then, I found out that there was an opening on 'Doctor Strange 2'. My agent called me and said, 'They're looking for a director at Marvel for this movie and your name came up. Would you be interested?'
"And I thought, 'I wonder if I could still do it.' They're really demanding, those types of pictures. And I felt, 'Well, that's reason enough.'"
Sam replaced Scott Derrickson – who had helmed the first movie in 2016 – as director and admitted that he was keen to take on a project involving one of his favourite characters.
The 'Evil Dead' creator said: "I've always really liked the character of Doctor Strange. He was not my favourite, but he was right up there with the favourites.
"I loved the first movie, I thought (director) Scott Derrickson did a wonderful job, an incredible job. So, I said, 'Yeah'. They left the character in a great place. I didn't think I would be doing another superhero movie, it just happened."
