When the sequel to Marvel's Benedict Cumberbatch-starring Doctor Strange was announced this past Comic-Con as Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, we naturally assumed that co-writer/director Scott Derrickson and regular collaborator C. Robert Cargill would be handling the lions share of the script work. But according to Collider, Jade Bartlett is the first person hired to work on the screenplay.
Of course, Marvel and Disney have made no official announcement on this front, but then we wouldn't expect them to anyway. What we do know about the film is that Derrickson is back to direct, with Cumberbatch starring and Benedict Wong is on board as Wong. Also part of the cast? Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch, whose WandaVision Disney+ series will lead into the movie as part of the MCU's Phase 4.
We'd figure that at least Derrickson will also have a hand, and we can't forget that Jon Spaihts also worked on the original, so there is precedent for other writers to contribute to Strange films.
Bartlett is a screenwriter whose career has been on the rise since her script Miller's Girl landed on the 2016 Black List of best unproduced screenplays, and has since been optioned by Good Universe for Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to produce, while Bartlett herself may direct. Universal grabbed her services back in 2017 to adapt Chloé Esposito's novel Mad, Bad And Dangerous To Know. While she hasn't seen her work make it to production yet, this is certainly another big job.
And it's still early days for the movie, as In the Multiverse Of Madness is scheduled for release in 2021.