Nightmare was originally planned as the main villain of the Doctor Strange movie, but Marvel Studios decided he was “more of a second-movie character.”
According to Doctor Strange writer C. Robert Cargill, he and director Scott Derrickson originally planned Nightmare as the main villain of the first film. Marvel Studios approved the idea but felt Nightmare was better suited for a sequel.
Speaking to The Direct, Cargill said, “We wanted Nightmare to be the villain of the first movie. And [Marvel Studios] loved the idea, but they were like, ‘That’s more of a second-movie character.'”
The early drafts included Doctor Strange battling Nightmare, the master of dreams. Cargill and director Scott Derrickson wanted to explore “alternate realities, dream logic, and psychonaut-style storytelling.” In their vision, reality would bend to Nightmare’s whims during these battles, and some of these dream-world concepts were initially written for the first film and later considered for the second.
Cargill said, “What we really wanted to do is… Scott [Derrickson] and I like playing around with alternate realities, dream logic, and things like that.” He added, “We’re big fans of that kind of psychonaut-style space, going deep into your own dreams and the like. We wrote some material for the first film that we wanted to try to incorporate into the second film, focusing on that dream world, with Doctor Strange having to battle this guy who is the master of dreams, where reality bends to his whims. We were really just exploring that kind of stuff.”
Cargill and Derrickson never got to bring their vision of Nightmare to the screen, as Derrickson left the original Doctor Strange film in early 2020 due to creative differences. Cargill, who was not involved in the sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, said that he hopes Marvel will explore Nightmare someday and that he would love to write a Nightmare-focused script for the studio.
He continued, “I was not involved in Multiverse of Madness. I hadn’t been brought on yet before Scott decided to part ways. But yeah, Nightmare is such a great character, and I hope they get to play around with him someday. I’d love to go back and write a Nightmare script for them.”
Who is Nightmare in Marvel Comics?
In Marvel Comics, Nightmare is a powerful supernatural villain and ruler of the Dream Dimension, first appearing in Strange Tales #110 (1963) and created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko; he can manipulate dreams, trap people in nightmares, and affect the waking world, mainly opposing Doctor Strange while feeding on the fear and suffering of those trapped in his realm.
Currently, Doctor Strange 3 is in the works at Marvel Studios, but it has not yet been officially announced. The movie may release after Avengers: Doomsday and before Secret Wars, with Marvel listing a release date of July 23, 2027.
Source: The Direct
