We’ve always had the impression that a fair amount of fun is had on the sets of various Marvel movies, and the gag reel from the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray release of Doctor Strange tends to add to that.
Watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gBokeXN71w
Additionally two Doctor Strange deleted scenes and featurettes have hit the web (all of these are courtesy of ComicBook.com’s YouTube page), and both focus on Mads Mikkelsen’s underserved villain, Kaecilius. We have the complete list of special features for the movie down below, and it doesn’t explicitly mention these scenes, but we imagine they’d have to be included, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ian1ZSP9JGM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhZg6XtiuIs
Considering how little screentime and development this character got in the movie, wouldn’t it have made a little sense to make room for them? Then again, it was pretty refreshing that Doctor Strange wasn’t a two and a half hour long “epic” so maybe we should keep quiet.
Featurettes: • A Strange Transformation – Open your eye to a new dimension of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and see how the filmmakers brought one of comic books’ greatest characters to life.• Strange Company – Find out what it’s like for the cast to work on a Marvel film, and how Director Scott Derrickson engineered one of the most ambitious, imaginative films ever.• The Fabric of Reality – Take a closer look at the movie’s extraordinary sets, meticulously crafted costumes and amazingly detailed production elements.• Across Time and Space – Explore the countless hours of dance and fight choreography the actors endured in preparation for their physically demanding roles.• The Score-cerer Supreme – Join Composer Michael Giacchino and a full orchestra during live recording sessions, and experience the movie’s mind-bending music.
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• Marvel Studios Phase 3 Exclusive Look – Get an early peek at Marvel’s spectacular upcoming films, including Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.
• Team Thor: Part 2 – See more of the hilarious partnership between Thor and his roommate Darryl in this satirical short.
Deleted Scenes: • Strange Meets Daniel Drumm• Kaecilius Searches for Answers• The Kamar-Taj Courtyard• Making Contact• Lost in Kathmandu• Gag Reel• Audio Commentary by Director Scott Derrickson
Doctor Strange Review
“Stephen Strange has one of Marvel’s most clear-cut origin stories, which makes the long delay in bringing his story to the screen somewhat baffling. Then again, the idea of a superhero who does most of his crimefighting as a disembodied being on an astral plane that resembles what Kubrick’s “star gate” might have looked like if the director had actually dropped acid was no doubt daunting to even the most open-minded filmmakers.”
From Marvel comes “Doctor Strange,” the story of world-famous neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange whose life changes forever after a horrific car accident robs him of the use of his hands. When traditional medicine fails him, he is forced to look for healing, and hope, in an unlikely place—a mysterious enclave known as Kamar-Taj. He quickly learns that this is not just a center for healing but also the front line of a battle against unseen dark forces bent on destroying our reality. Before long Strange—armed with newly acquired magical powers—is forced to choose whether to return to his life of fortune and status or leave it all behind to defend the world as the most powerful sorcerer in existence.
Doctor Strange Run Time
Doctor Strange apparently runs a quite reasonable 115 minutes inluding credits.
This other Doctor Strange trailer, which has so far only aired on television and hasn’t shown up in theaters (and might not), is that it’s comprised almost entirely of new footage, and it gives us a better idea of how “the mystic arts” are supposed to work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is, perhaps, a little less explicitly Inception-y than previous footage we’ve seen.
Anyway, judge for yourself…
There’s also an international trailer, which reveals a little more about Stephen Strange’s origin story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kgbqnohaoY
There’s also this exceptionally trippy Doctor Strange TV trailer…
Let Benedict Cumberbatch himself tell you a little about what to expect from the Doctor Strange movie in this featurette…
If you thought the reality bending stuff we’ve seen in the other Doctor Strange trailers was crazy, then check out the craziness you can spot in this featurette from Marvel. In it, Kevin Feige and Scott Derrickson pay tribute to the psychedelic weirdness of the original Steve Ditko Doctor Strange comics, and juxtapose that with some totally bonkers footage we haven’t seen before. Check it out!
Doctor Strange Music
This is a little different. It’s our first hint of what the score for the movie, composed by the great Michael Giacchino, sounds like. Here’s the end credits tune, “Master of the Mystic Arts” which blends some kinda Pink Floyd sensibilities with a few things that faintly recall the theme to the BBC’s Sherlock, too!
Who is Doctor Strange?
Doctor Strange was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in Strange Tales #110 (1963), the same team that brought Spider-Man to the world. The character was hardly a traditional superhero, though. Stephen Strange was a gifted but arrogant surgeon who found his hands mangled and useless after a car accident. His search for a cure led him to the mountains of Tibet, where he becomes the pupil of the Ancient One and the Marvel Universe’s defender against mystical threats.
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The comic was distinguished by Steve Ditko’s psychedelic art that often depicted other dimensions, while Lee’s overwrought writing style found a perfect home in the bizarre spells Strange cast. He’s a pretty versatile character, having both fought alongside the Avengers and even taking on Dracula on at least one occasion. Come to think of it, a Doctor Strange vs. Dracula story would be a perfect Doctor Strange 2, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.
Despite the inherent weirdness of the character, Strange was always hanging around the more “traditional” Marvel Universe, and even became a Priority Indenticard carrying member of the Avengers during Brian Michael Bendis’ extended tenure as writer. Before that he played a crucial role in the original Infinity Gauntletstory. Considering where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is headed, then Strange could be as important to Phase 3 and Phase 4 as Iron Man has been to the universe so far. With all of the turnover expected in the Avengers ranks between Infinity War Part I and Part II, it won’t take long for Strange to get a room at Avengers tower.
Of course, Benedict Cumberbatch is playing Doctor Stephen Strange.
“Stephen Strange’s story requires an actor capable of great depth and sincerity,” said Producer Kevin Feige in a statement when the casting was confirmed in the fall of 2014. “In 2016, Benedict will show audiences what makes Doctor Strange such a unique and compelling character.”
Mads Mikkelsen is the film’s big villain, who is suppsedly Kaecilius. Perhaps Mikkelsen’s character is just someone worshipping at the altar of Dormammu of the Dark Dimension and they’re saving the big flame-headed demon for a future movie, ala Thanos.
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Chiwetel Ejiofor is playing Baron Mordo, but he isn’t a traditional villain. Mordo made his first appearance in the pages of Strange Tales #111 in 1963. It was the second Doctor Strange story, but the first one to details his origin story. Mordo was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, who also created our main Sorcerer Supreme.
As for Rachel McAdams, her role is still something of a headscratcher. “Rachel McAdams plays a fellow surgeon that has a history with Strange and is his sort of lynchpin to his old life, once he steps into he role of a sorcerer,” Kevin Feige told EW. “She is someone he connects with at the beginning, and reconnects with, and helps anchor his humanity.”
Tilda Swinton is playing Strange mentor, The Ancient One. The Ancient One is a Tibetan mystic who starts Stephen Strange on his journey to become Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, the most powerful magic user in the world who defends our realm against all manner of supernatural threats.
Benedict Wong is playing Wong, just about the last major piece of the Doctor Strange mythology that we haven’t seen in place yet. Well, that’s assuming that Mads Mikkelsen is playing some form of Dormammu and Rachel McAdams is Clea, but details about those characters haven’t quite been revealed yet.
Wong is Doctor Strange’s roommate at the Sanctum Sanctorum, and is more than the traditional sidekick or butler. Think of Alfred Pennyworth at his most pro-active, throw in some serious martial arts skills and some magical knowledge, and you’re getting to the unique place that Wong occupies in the Doctor Strange world.
Wong has been hanging around Marvel Comics for as long as Stephen Strange has, first appearing in Strange Tales #110 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Rachel McAdams is Christine Palmer, the chararacter known as Night Nurse in the comics. Marvel had originally made noises about Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple in their Netflix shows as “Night Nurse” but they backed off of that.
Others in the cast include Michael Stuhlbarg (playing Nicodemus West), Amy Landecker, and Scott Adkins.
Doctor Strange Costume
Benedict Cumberbatch and Doctor Strange costume designer Alexandra Byrne have been chatting to Entertainment Weekly about the superhero’s choice of clothing.
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Byrne admits she found herself astounded this time around, as the usual leather and padding has been replaced by, well, actual garments. “It’s all clothes,” she exclaimed on set in the U.K. “From the films I’ve done before, we’ve got quite a legacy in our fabrics store of almost every type of stretch weave and fabric. And they’re sitting on the top shelf unused. Which is very exciting.”
But there’s one particular piece of the Doctor Strange getup that wasn’t as easy to throw on, and that’s the character’s Cloak of Levitation – which gives him the power of flight. Mythology has the cloak simply attached to Strange by magic, but in real life the cloak was screwed into a harness, which was a harsh mistress when it came to Cumberbatch’s, er, personal time: “What was difficult was going for a bathroom break. You’d have to get out of it all and put it back on again. It was just arduous for everyone.”
Cumberbatch also recounted an amusing anecdote about going off to a cafe in New York dressed his full Doctor Strangecostume, which didn’t have quite the impact on the general public that he expected.
“I had some friends who were around on Saturday and they were like, ‘Wow, oh my god, you’re actually playing a superhero!’” I said, “Let’s go to a cafe,’ and we went to this cafe around the corner. And you know that scene in Ghostbusterswhere Rick Moranis runs up to the cafe in Central Park, being chased by the Dog of Doom from the building? And he goes, ‘Help me, help!’ and bangs against the glass? And everyone in the restaurant sort of drops their cutlery and turns their head and looks? And he squeaks down the glass going, ‘Please, help me?’ And there’s a silence? And you cut back to the dining room and everyone goes, ‘Anyway, I was saying, Marjorie just had her face done…’ That’s pretty much what happened in the cafe. By the time I left, it was like, ‘Hey, thanks so much, here’s a tip!’ It was just a normal thing.”
Here’s hoping he keeps wearing the costume for all future coffee stops.
Production Details
Here are some more production details from the press release:
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Marvel’s “Doctor Strange” is produced by Kevin Feige with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Charles Newirth, Stephen Broussard and Stan Lee serving as executive producers.
Director Scott Derrickson’s creative team also includes director of photography Ben Davis, B.S.C. (Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”); production designer Charles Wood (Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”); costume designer Alexandra Byrne (Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”); editors Wyatt Smith (“Into the Woods,” Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World”) and Sabrina Plisco, ACE (“Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium,” “Charlotte’s Web”); and visuals effects supervisor Stephane Ceretti (Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”).
