Why Sam Raimi Is Perfect For Doctor Strange 2
2. He Created Darkman
Perhaps one of the most compelling arguments that can be made for Sam Raimi directing Doctor Strange is the fact that he's been making superhero movies since 1990. His film Darkman, like so many superhero films of that year rode in on the success of the 1989 Batman but unlike those other movies that relied on comic source material this superhero was born completely from Raimi's mind.
Darkman is almost unique for it's time in that it applies the aesthetics of the horror genre to a superhero. He is the relentless and unnatural slasher who hunts down victims but those victims are the criminals who wronged him. He's part Phantom of The Opera and part Shadow with touches of DC's Metamorpho thrown in for good measure and that all amounts to a hell of an antihero in one crazy fun movie.
Creating this cult superhero from scratch is an accomplishment that deserves some respect. Sam Raimi is clearly the kind of comic nerd in who's hands Doctor Strange would be safe and the kind of filmmaker who would deliver something both fun and scary.