Doctor Strange will be released on the 4th of November this year. After being teased in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Stephen Strange will be portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch. He will be joined by characters such as Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), Wong (Benedict Wong), and others.
So what do we know about Doctor Strange, with a little more than one month before the release date? Surprisingly, not too much - but this is a good thing, after all. Nobody wants to go to the theater already knowing what is going to happen on the big screen.
But there are quite a few things we do know about this movie. Furthermore, there are also quite a few credible rumors about what will happen in Doctor Strange's first outing in the MCU. So, if you want to be spoiled just a bit, check out these following pages.
It's an origin story
As everybody knows by now, this will be the origin story of Doctor Strange. And it will be quite a faithful adaptation, for that matter, with Stephen Stranger suffering a life-changing car accident that sends him on his path toward becoming the Sorcerer Supreme.
Of course, we don't know if Strange has a family or not in the movie. But in the comics his life is pretty tragic, with all of his family members having died, either in accidents or because of some illness. This puts him on his path to becoming a brilliant surgeon, although quite an egotistical one.
But, as said, the accident changes his whole perspective on life. And I guess this is when Rachel McAdams' Christine Palmer will enter the stage as a potential love-interest. Although I don't see this happening, with Strange now having too much on his hands and no time at all as the Sorcerer Supreme.
This will be the sixth origin story for the MCU. However, it won't be like any of the others. Why? Well"¦
Introducing magic into the MCU
Until now, the superpowers depicted in the MCU have been technologically based. Even the Asgardians' magic is, in fact, highly-evolved science, while the Hulk is the result of a failed experiment. This will change with Doctor Strange, who will be the first actual magic user in the shared universe.
Scarlet Witch could have been the first one. But her origin was changed to fit the MCU, with her powers being a direct result of an experiment involving an Infinity Stone.
And Doctor Strange has the perfect director for this. To bring the mystical world of Stephen Strange to life, Marvel has hired Scott Derrickson, who is known for movies such as Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Deliver Us from Evil.
Will Doctor Strange have horror accents? It is more than likely. However, since it is rated PG-13, the director will have to restrain himself just a bit. But, as a comparison, he could use some tricks just like Joss Whedon did (very briefly) when introducing Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
As far as I’m concerned, I’m ready for some real magic!
Tibet and the Ancient One
Things got a bit hairy when the Ancient One was announced to be portrayed by Tilda Swinton. And that is because, in the comics, this is a male character coming from Tibet. Obviously, everybody shouted whitewashing, even if the actress is one of the most talented to come out of Hollywood.
Marvel, obviously, defended this pretty weird choice, saying that the character's gender has never been important to the Doctor Strange stories. And Marvel had to defend it once again, when the Ancient One was revealed to come from somewhere other than Tibet.
So this is the second major change made to a rather important character in the Doctor Strange role. According to Marvel, Tilda Swinton will portray a Celtic version of the Ancient One, because the studio embraces diversity.
Furthermore, this also a political move, since having a Tibetan character might have excluded Doctor Strange from the Chinese market. And since China is the second largest film market in the world"¦
Anyway, we'll all find out pretty soon if these changes have an impact on the movie or not.
Baron Mordo
In the comics, Baron Mordo is one of the most well-known villains from Doctor Strange's rogues gallery. However, the character portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor won't be a villain this year - or, at least, this is what we believe. He will be an aide to both the Ancient One and Doctor Strange, most likely until the end of the movie.
And this is great, since Chiwetel Ejiofor is not an actor to waste on a single movie. If his character grows, just like in the comics, we might see him throughout an entire Doctor Strange trilogy.
In the trailers, we see Mordo as an aide to Doctor Strange, being on the team that has to defeat the main antagonist of the movie. He is also the apprentice of the Ancient One, just like Stephen Strange. Also in the trailers, there are a few shots hinting that he is behind everything that is happening. Could this be true? Most likely, given the character's history in the comics and his connection to the main antagonist.
Kaecilius
Portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen, Kaecilius is the main antagonist of the movie. In the comics, he is also an errand boy and a disciple of Baron Mordo. We still don't know whether this connection has been kept in the movie, as well.
According to the character's description, he is also a very powerful sorcerer - and I guess everybody has seen his awesome magical powers in the trailers. He used to be one of the good guys, until he stumbled upon something from another dimension, something that seduced him.
So he finds something better and wants to change the world according to this new vision. This falls in line with quite a few other villains of the MCU, who don't desire power for the sake of power. Kingpin and Alexander Pierce are the best examples.
Of course, there is also another possibility, one that might turn out to be true. Especially if some of the accidental reveals concerning the movie turn out to be true and not some sort of misdirection.
Dormammu
This is it - one of the major villains of the Marvel comics may make his way into the MCU, via Baron Mordo and Kaecilius. Is he the ruler of the dimension where the latter villain lost his way? It may be. Just like he may wait until the end of the trilogy to make his full appearance, after both Kaecilius and Mordo have been defeated.
But, according to the most recent reveals, Dormammu may appear a bit earlier. As early as this year, that is.
This accidental reveal was made at this year's Comic Con by Dan Harmon, who wrote additional scenes for the movie. Thus, when opening some files on his computer, besides titles such as Kaecilius seduction, mirror realm explanation, and first and second ritual, there is another titled Strange confronts Dormammu.
Was this misdirection to get the fans hyped for the movie? Was this actually an accidental reveal? No matter which one is true, we'll find out when Doctor Strange is released. It would be a missed opportunity if Marvel decided not to give Dormammu a small cameo.
Wong
In the comics, Wong is a martial-artist and friend of Stephen Strange. Moreover, he acts as a servant of the Sorcerer Supreme. But this isn't the direction Marvel is going with the character in the movie. According to actor Benedict Wong, his character will be something like a drill instructor, most likely tasked with training Stephen Strange.
According to the actor, he will also be a master sorcerer, most likely another apprentice of the Ancient One. So, unlike in the comics, he will also prove to be a more than worthy ally of the future Sorcerer Supreme.
Will Wong appear in other movies as well? The actor did express his availability. However, just like with any other Marvel project, he didn't reveal anything. So, more than likely, he won't fall a victim to Kaecilius and his adepts.
Also, from the trailer, I do get the impression that he also trained Kaecilius. So it appears that Wong is tasked with training Kamar-Taj, in particular all of the apprentices of the Ancient One.
Multiple dimensions
As seen in the trailer, and as it was mentioned in almost every interview with the actors or the director, Doctor Strange will expand on the idea of multiple dimensions. As Derrickson said, this movie will mark the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse.
Although this isn't exactly accurate, since Ant-Man was the first one to tease the existence of a Microverse, an alternate dimension which can be reached through miniaturization to subatomic levels.
All in all, this is good news, since it opens tons of other possibilities in the MCU (or MCM, as the Doctor Strange director says). One of them is, obviously, reaching the Dark Dimension and discovering Dormammu. Who knows what else lurks beyond our realm?
Who knows? Maybe a connection with Ant-Man will be made and Strange will manage to save the first Wasp. Or maybe he is the one to send Thor to Grandmaster's planet to team-up with Hulk for the Ragnarok.
Anyway, we can all expect a couple of teases of the larger MCU.
Sanctum Sanctorum
In the comics, the Sanctum Sanctorum is the New York City headquarters of Doctor Strange. A three-story townhouse located at 177A Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, Sanctum Sanctorum is a focal point for supernatural energies and is magically alive. A particularity of the house is that it has more space on the inside than it has on the outside.
The Sanctum Sanctorum will also appear in the Doctor Strange movie, as was teased in the trailers. But we cannot expect to enter it until the end of the movie, when Stephen Strange will finally become the Sorcerer Supreme.
Nonetheless, when that happens, we can expect to be treated with a few Easter-Eggs, since the Sanctum Sanctorum is also used to store all sorts of powerful artifacts. Pretty much like Odin's Vault in the first Thor flick.
Also, having Doctor Strange establish his headquarters in New York opens up a number of other possibilities, since New York is also the city of Spider-Man and the Defenders.
The Eye of Agamotto
In the comics, Doctor Strange uses quite a few magical artifacts. And while we cannot expect to see them all, some of them will most certainly appear as Easter-Eggs. Among these, the trailer has already revealed some, which will play a great importance.
The Cloak of Levitation is one of them - it protects the Sorcerer Supreme from all types of attacks, granting him nigh invulnerability, it can attack enemies and listen to Strange's commands, and it can fly (hence the name).
But, most importantly, Strange possesses the Eye of Agamotto, which is also his most powerful artifact. While in the comics it has several powers, I assume that not all of them will be used. In this way, I believe that the movie will focus on two of them: the power of telepathy and the power to revert time.
And I believe that you see where this is going. In the MCU, two of the Infinity Stones haven't been accounted for: the Soul Stone and the Time Stone. And these powers fit the description of the Eye of Agamotto. And since the trailers heavily tease the latter, I believe (just like many others on the web) that this powerful artifact is, in fact, the Time Stone.
What do you think? What else should be added here?
