Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is a 2016 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the fourteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Scott Derrickson, who wrote it with Jon Spaihts and C. Robert Cargill, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character, along with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton. In Doctor Strange, surgeon Stephen Strange learns the mystic arts after a career-ending car accident.

Plot[]

In Kathmandu, the sorcerer Kaecilius and his zealots enter the secret compound Kamar-Taj and behead its librarian. They steal a few pages from an ancient, mystical text belonging to the Ancient One, a long-lived sorcerer who has taught every student at Kamar-Taj, including Kaecilius, in the mystic arts. The Ancient One pursues the traitors, but Kaecilius and his followers escape.

In New York City, Stephen Strange, a wealthy, acclaimed, and arrogant neurosurgeon, severely injures his hands in a car accident, leaving him unable to operate. Fellow surgeon and former lover Christine Palmer tries to help him move on, but Strange vainly pursues experimental surgeries to heal his hands, nearly bankrupting himself. Strange learns about Jonathan Pangborn, a paraplegic who mysteriously regained use of his legs. Pangborn directs Strange to Kamar-Taj, where he is taken in by Mordo, a sorcerer under the Ancient One. The Ancient One demonstrates her power to Strange, revealing the astral plane and other dimensions such as the Mirror Dimension. She reluctantly agrees to train Strange, whose arrogance and ambition remind her of Kaecilius.

Strange studies under the Ancient One and Mordo, and from ancient books in the library that is now guarded by Master Wong. Strange learns that Earth is protected from threats from other dimensions by a shield generated from three buildings called Sanctums, in New York City, London, and Hong Kong, which are all connected and accessible from Kamar-Taj. The sorcerers' task is to protect the Sanctums, though Pangborn instead chose to channel mystical energy only into walking again. Strange progresses quickly, and secretly reads the text from which Kaecilius stole pages, learning to bend time with the mystical Eye of Agamotto. Mordo and Wong warn Strange against breaking the laws of nature, drawing a comparison to Kaecilius' desire for eternal life.

Kaecilius uses the stolen pages to contact Dormammu of the Dark Dimension, where time is non-existent. Kaecilius destroys the London Sanctum to weaken Earth's protection. The zealots then attack the New York Sanctum, killing its guardian, but Strange holds them off with the help of the Cloak of Levitation until Mordo and the Ancient One arrive. Strange and Mordo become disillusioned with the Ancient One after Kaecilius reveals that the Ancient One's long life is due to her drawing power from the Dark Dimension. After a fight in the Mirror Dimension of New York, Kaecilius mortally wounds the Ancient One and escapes to Hong Kong. Before dying, she tells Strange that he too will have to bend the rules to complement Mordo's steadfast nature in order to defeat Kaecilius. Strange and Mordo arrive in Hong Kong to find Wong dead, the Sanctum destroyed, and the Dark Dimension engulfing Earth. Strange uses the Eye to reverse time and save Wong, then enters the Dark Dimension and creates a time loop around himself and Dormammu. After repeatedly killing Strange to no avail, Dormammu finally gives in to Strange's demand that he leave Earth and take Kaecilius and his zealots with him in return for Strange breaking the loop.

Disillusioned by Strange and the Ancient One defying nature's laws, Mordo departs. Strange returns the Eye to Kamar-Taj, and takes up residence in the New York Sanctum to continue his studies. In a mid-credits scene, Strange decides to help Thor, who has brought his brother Loki to Earth to search for their father Odin. In a post-credits scene, Mordo confronts Pangborn and steals the mystical energy that he uses to walk, declaring that Earth has "too many sorcerers".

Cast[]

Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange / Dormammu
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo
Rachel McAdams as Doctor Christine Palmer
Benedict Wong as Wong
Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius
Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One
Michael Stuhlbarg as Doctor Nicodemus West
Benjamin Bratt as Jonathan Pangborn
Scott Adkins as Lucian Aster
Linda Louise Duan as Master Minoru
Mark Anthony Brighton as Daniel Drumm
Topo Wresniwiro as Hamir
Umit Ulgen as Sol Rama
Katrina Durden as Blonde Zealot
Zara Phythian as Brunette Zealot
Alaa Safi as Tall Zealot
Dean Ridge as Nervous Zealot
Adam Pelta-Pauls as Billy
Guillaume Faure as Etienne
Ezra Khan as Kamar-Taj Librarian
Pat Kiernan as Himself
Stan Lee as Watcher Informant
Lulu Wilson as Donna Strange (deleted scene)^[6]
Amy Landecker as Dr. Bruner (deleted scene)^[7][8]
Chris Hemsworth as Thor (mid-credits scene)
Unknown Actor as Priest (deleted scene)

Sequel[]

Doctor Strange will be followed by a sequel: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which is scheduled for 2022.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

This is the fourteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This is the second live action adaptation of Marvel Comics' Droctor Strange. The first was Dr. Strange (1978).
Benedict Cumberbatch was the first choice and was offered the lead role of Stephen Strange, but he initially had to decline due to his theater commitments playing William Shakespeare's Hamlet, which clashed with the film's proposed shooting date. When the release date was pushed back from July 2016 to November 2016, he was able to commit to shooting. Joaquin Phoenix was the studio's second choice for the lead role but, after a few months of deliberation, eventually turned down the offer due to his reluctance to do a multi-picture deal that was required by the studio if he signed on.
While filming, Benedict Cumberbatch walked into a comic book store, in full costume, and bought an actual Doctor Strange comic.
Director Scott Derrickson is a big fan of Doctor Strange, and spent his own money on a concept video he pitched to Marvel so that he could get the job of directing the film.
Mads Mikkelsen admitted that with all the computer-generated imagery he got a bit lost on how to film his scenes, especially during the Mirror Dimension scenes.
Although this is Doctor Strange's first outing in an MCU solo movie, the character has been teased in earlier movies. In Thor (2011); the Orb of Agamotto can be seen among the treasures in Odin's treasure chamber. In Thor: The Dark World (2013), the Crossroads is among the various phrases written on Selvig's chalkboard; the Crossroads is an other-dimensional reality that has a prominent role in the "Doctor Strange" comics. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Jasper Sitwell mentions Stephen Strange as one of the high-risk targets that HYDRA keeps under surveillance.
Doctor Strange's creators, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, based his appearance on Hollywood actor Vincent Price. The character even bears the middle name of Vincent.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is a fifth-degree black belt in karate, so his movements are second nature in fighting.
Tilda Swinton's children were crew members on the film. Her daughter worked in the costume department and her son in the art department designing planets.
Due to the popularity of the Marvel films, Rachel McAdams had a change of stance and became interested in appearing in any of the MCU films. Unknowingly, she was the first choice for the role of Christine. McAdams was also previously approached by Jon Favreau as the first choice to play Pepper Potts in Iron Man (2008) but she declined.
Scott Derrickson admitted that the MCU films dedicate little time to developing antagonists, so he just hoped to show Kaecilius's point of view, describing the character as a "villain of ideas with watertight logic," like John Doe from Seven (1995).
Cinematographer Ben Davis cites the Disney experimental film Fantasia (1940) as a visual influence on the film: "It has a very psychedelic grounding, and most of the work is about other dimensions."
Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe and Bill Nighy were considered for the role of The Ancient One.
In the comics, the Ancient One is an old man; in this film, the Ancient One is played by a woman. This was a deliberate decision as Scott Derrickson felt the Ancient One was a title rather than a person. Additionally this was also intended to avoid the risk of portraying any negative racial stereotypes, as the appearance of the Ancient One in the comics is based on Tibetan monks.
Scott Derrickson wanted to feature the dream demon Nightmare and his world the Dream Dimension, but decided to save him for a sequel.
In 1992, Wes Craven was set to direct. Later in 2001, David S. Goyer was going to write and direct. In 2008, Guillermo del Toro was brought on as director. In 2014, Mark Andrews, Jonathan Levine, Nikolaj Arcel, Scott Derrickson and Dean Israelite were on the shortlist to direct. In the end, Derrickson was officially announced to helm the film.
Christine Palmer is one of a trio of women known as the Night Nurse in the Marvel Comics Universe, making cameos in various comic books. Another night nurse is Claire Temple from the Netflix Marvel TV series (Daredevil (2015), Jessica Jones (2015),Luke Cage (2016) and Iron Fist (2017)),
Mads Mikkelsen's brother Lars Mikkelsen was the voice of Doctor Strange in the Danish dub of Doctor Strange (2007). Lars had also played an antagonist in Benedict Cumberbatch's show Sherlock (2010).
First Marvel Studios movie to feature the new Marvel Studios logo/fanfare composed by Michael Giacchino at the start of the film. Michael Giacchino also scored the film. Previous Marvel Studios films featured the original logo that can also be seen in other Marvel movies such as the X-Men series. This logo was sometimes accompanied by the fanfare composed by Brian Tyler, which was first heard in Thor: The Dark World (2013).
This is the fourth film in which Rachel McAdams' plays a love interest to a man who can travel through (or otherwise manipulate) time; the others were The Time Traveller's Wife (2009), Midnight in Paris (2011), and About Time (2013). In none of these four movies does McAdams' character herself get to participate in these time travels or manipulations.
Gary Oldman and Mads Mikkelsen were considered for the role of Baron Mordo.
Doctor Strange is repeatedly addressed as "Mister" by other characters. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko originally considered naming the character "Mr. Strange", but decided it sounded too similar to "Mr. Fantastic" of the Fantastic Four.
Colin Farrell, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hardy, Ethan Hawke, Jack Huston, Oscar Isaac, Jared Leto, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Keanu Reeves, Justin Theroux, Jon Hamm, Johnny Depp & Joseph Gordon-Levitt were all considered or rumored for the role of Stephen Strange.
Mads Mikkelsen is the third Hannibal Lecter actor to appear in a Marvel film, after Brian Cox (William Stryker in X-Men 2 (2003)) and Anthony Hopkins (Odin in the Thor films).
The film's cast includes one Oscar winner, Tilda Swinton, and three Oscar nominees, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Rachel McAdams.
Mads Mikkelsen had been under consideration for the role of Dr. Stephen Strange back in 2013.
Patrick Dempsey publicly expressed an interest in playing Stephen Strange.
Tony Todd was considered for the role of Dormammu.
Both Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong also starred in Dirty Pretty Things (2002) and The Martian (2015)
Benedict Cumberbatch and Chiwetel Ejiofor previously starred together in 12 Years a Slave (2013).
Savoy Pictures had the film rights to the character but weren't able to get a film off the ground due to bankruptcy. Sony Pictures had picked up the film rights shortly after but never got a film produced, leaving the film rights to revert to Marvel.
Rachel McAdams played Irene Adler in Sherlock Holmes (2009). Irene is a love interest to Sherlock, played by Robert Downey Jr., who plays Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this movie, she plays Dr. Christine Palmer, past love interest of Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Holmes in Sherlock (2010).
Benedict Wong shares the same surname as his character.
Second fantasy franchise for Tilda Swinton after she played The White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010).
Benedict Cumberbatch is the second actor to play Sherlock Holmes and appear in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film, the first being Robert Downey Jr.. In this film, Cumberbatch plays a doctor. Holmes himself was modeled after a real doctor, Joseph Bell.
Chiwetel Ejiofor's character from Serenity (2005), The Operative, is a sword-wielding assassin. I'm this film, his character is armed with a similar sword.
This is the second MCU to be released in theaters in November since Thor: The Dark World (2013).

Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange (2016), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Phase Three
Captain America: Civil War (2016), Doctor Strange (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)