In the upcoming Doctor Strange movie, Chiwetel Ejiofor will be introduced as Baron Mordo, while Benedict Wong will be portraying Wong. While both characters have existed in the Sorcerer Supreme's comics since the 1960s, neither is going to bear much resemblance to his comic book counterpart in the Scott Derrickson venture.
While speaking to Comic Book, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige claims that unlike the Mordo we have seen in comic books, Ejiofor's character is not an antagonist in the Doctor Strange movie, but an "advocate" for the titular superhero in the beginning. He explains:
The Ancient One doesn’t necessarily see the potential in Strange that Mordo does. Mordo’s the one who talks The Ancient One into allowing him in. For this film, he is a partner of Strange and he is a mentor to Strange. That was something we wanted to play against in the comics because…There are some things that are too obvious for modern-day audiences.
Feige adds that this version of Mordo is not the "jealous rival" we are used to seeing, who turns against Strange when "he shows any signs of a talent". He notes that they "specifically did not want" to present the character that way. Derrickson further adds that they are "sort of building a foundational understanding of" who Mordo was before becoming the kind of person he has been in the comics.
While Mordo is not a villain in Doctor Strange, Wong is neither a "manservant" nor a "sidekick". From what Benedict Wong reveals while talking to Slash Film, it seems that his character in the November 4 release is more of a mentor and an ally:
Wong is in our world now a master at Kamar-Taj, training the fellow disciples and sorcerers, and [he's a] protector of the Sanctum relics and these ancient ritual books, and it's where we'll see Wong and Doctor Strange come together and become, really, allies to fight against these extra-dimensional forces.
While speaking about the relationship between his and Benedict Cumberbatch's characters, Benedict Wong says that his character is of "a higher ranking" in Doctor Strange until the point where Strange discovers his powers in the mystical arts. That is something Wong struggles to "circumnavigate". The actor adds:
Things are gonna happen in the film where, as I said before, that I feel a sense of how these two "” they're quite an odd couple, really. They're quite an oddball couple, and it's how they become allies together. I think that's what we're sort of converging, and then we'll just see how it evolves and how they explore it in the next one.
Marvel has released two new character posters – that of Benedict Wong's Wong and Rachel McAdams' Christine Palmer – and a bunch of behind-the-scene stills via Collider. You can check them out below!
