Social media is an interesting thing for filmmakers. Some use it primarily as a way to promote their work. Others interact with fans (for better or worse). And sometimes, you have directors like Scott Derrickson, who is great with all of the above, but also teasing something a bit too much. And recently, the filmmaker teased something on Twitter that got fans amped about what lies ahead for his upcoming MCU film “Doctor Strange 2.”
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In a now-deleted tweet, accompanied by the simple caption “Are you experienced?,” Derrickson shared an image of Doctor Strange underwater being attacked by what appears to be Namor, the Submariner. Obviously, this is no confirmation of anything, but the fact that this image, in particular, was shared, combined with the fact we know he’s currently working on the upcoming sequel to “Doctor Strange” is leading fans to speculate that the good Doctor might have some underwater adventures in his future.
At first glance, you may be thinking “Oh great, now Marvel wants to capitalize on the success of ‘Aquaman’ with their very own underwater film.” While we’d be naive to think that there isn’t a little bit of that “Aquaman” success seeping into the Marvel Studios mindset, especially if this tease actually means Namor will show up in ‘DS2,’ the link between Doctor Strange and the Submariner is much deeper than you might understand.
You see, before Netflix went and released a superhero team-up series titled “The Defenders,” Marvel Comics had another group of heroes by that name that included Doctor Strange, the Hulk, Silver Surfer, and yes, Namor. The altercation that brought these disparate heroes together involved an otherworldly Lovecraftian monster that appeared underwater, leading the mystical Strange and the underwater royal Namor to team up to tackle the villain.
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Obviously, Marvel Studios has never shied away from combining heroes in films, even outside of the ‘Avengers’ series. Thor and Hulk were buddies in ‘Ragnarok.’ Captain America regularly teams up with his friends in that series. Hell, way back in 2010, “Iron Man 2” kicked off the crossover trend with Tony Stark teaming with Black Widow.
That being said, there is one nagging issue with this Doctor Strange/Namor team-up. Rights issues. Kevin Feige has spoken out about the issues with the rights surrounding Namor, who was initially part of a film deal that was outside of the Fox and Sony licensing agreements. However, much like the Hulk, perhaps the rights issues can be avoided by not having a solo “Namor” film, and instead, using him as a supporting character?
Either way, we probably won’t hear anything about a possible team-up until well after “Avengers: Endgame,” when Marvel Studios finally announces its film slate moving forward.
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