On Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016, we traveled to London’s Longcross Film Studios to visit the Marvel Studios production of Doctor Strange. While there we had the opportunity to examine concept art for the film, costumes of all the characters, props from key scenes, and tour multiple sets.
The day began with an introduction and conversation with Marvel Studios boss, and franchise mastermind, Kevin Feige followed by interviews with director Scott Derrickson, several cast members and department heads who all helped reveal and confirm many details of the adaptation. We learned about the previous plans for this origin movie, including a sequence which may be saved for the sequel, lots of Easter Eggs, and what exciting stories from the comics are setup for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Without further ado, here are 31 things we learned on the set of Marvel’s Doctor Strange.
31. Doctor Strange Follows Comic’s Origin Story
Despite some updating of key characters, their main roles, albeit fleshed out, are largely the same. In that respect, Stephen Strange’s journey in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut is very faithful to readers know from the comics or various animated appearances.
30. Doctor Strange Relates Magic to Science (Like Thor)
The idea of magic was introduced and almost written-off in a single line in Thor. What made you want to bring magic back into the Marvel universe in a full proper way like this now?
29. Doctor Strange Is A Standalone Movie
As another origin tale, like Ant-Man before it, Doctor Strange has a little more freedom to tell its own story. Especially since, like Guardians of the Galaxy, its opening up a whole other section of the Marvel universe with its own new sets of characters. It’s laying groundwork for the future - and of course, Doctor Strange will be seen in Avengers: Infinity War - but this movie works on its own.
28. Marvel Comics Characters Have Been Changed
We’ll discuss more of this in depth later, but on its surface, Doctor Strange is very faithful to the origin story of the comics (and to the 2007 animated film) despite some updates to its interpreation of supporting characters.
27. There’s A Runaways Reference
The Runaways movie isn’t happening although it was supposed to in 2012 alongside The Avengers. Instead, it’s now being developed as a Hulu series by Marvel TV. In the War Room on set we noted a few exciting names on the concept art and costumes for fans of the comics - namely, Drumm and Tina Minoru- who most recently appeared in the Doctor Strange prelude comic.
26. The Antagonist is Someone You Probably Don’t Know
In Marvel Comics, Kaecilius is a very minor character - a field agent of Baron Mordo - but in the MCU he has a much bigger role as the primary antagonist of Doctor Strange. Where Mordo is now a “good guy” and has his backstory fleshed out, so to will Kaecilius who’s the “bad guy.” And in the movie he’s played by Mads Mikkelsen, someone Marvel wanted to work with on Thor: The Dark World when he almost played its villain Malekith.
Kevin Feige: The Antagonist is Mads Mikkelsen, who plays a character called Kaecilius who was a sorcerer within Kamar-Taj, who along with some other of his followers, who are called zealots, defect from Kamar-Taj because they believe The Ancient One is not being truthful in the way that she is teaching magic, is teaching sorcery. They believe she is withholding secrets that should not be withheld, and think that maybe it’s not a bad thing if other dimensions absorb our reality. In fact, that could lead to benefits such as immortality. They may also lead to destroying the entire world as we know it. But it is definitely a philosophical break that he has from the rest of the sorcerers that is his primary angst over the course of the movie.
25. He Might be Working For Someone else…
Can you talk about the decision to use Kaecilius and why you guys ended up there and what to expect from him?
24. There Are Hints of Dormammu
Given Scott Derrickson’s words and what we know from the comics, the obvious assumption is that Kaecilius is working for (or with) Dormammu - the millennia-old villainous sorcerer from another dimension. There’s always a darker power at work and some larger threat who will surface in future Doctor Strange movies or perhaps even other crossover events a la Infinity War.
In addition to what Derrickson’s hints of there behing someone pulling the strings behind-the-scenes in his comparison to Lord of the Rings, in the war room where costumes and props were shown to us alongside concept art we saw a Dread symbol as Art Department head Barry Gibbs walked us through it all. We pointed it out.
That’s a dread symbol, right there.
As in the Dread Dormammu…
23. Doctor Strange Introduces the Multiverse
The source of much of the magic and mysticism in Doctor Strange - at least in his origin movie in the MCU - comes from alternate dimensions. Of course, with the idea of multiple realities comes one of the most exciting and limitless plot devices ever, and so I couldn’t help bust ask Kevin Feige if this means we can see different versions of the MCU, different versions of characters or even things like the Cancerverse. Fans of the Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning cosmic comics from 2006-2011 will know exactly what I’m talking about.
22. There’s Probably an Infinity Stone In The Movie
As we enter deeper into Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe there remains only two of the six Infinity Stones left to be uncovered and so far the hints have been very strong that one of them is in Doctor Strange, likely the Time Stone. That comes from previous hints from Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige who previously said Doctor Strange will play with time, although yet another Infinity Stone being on Earth - and being a potential source of magic may seem to make the universe feel a tad smaller.
We can’t say for certain, but the following line from Feige during our interview with him on the Doctor Strange set seems to all but guarantee an Infinity Stone - or connection to one - is indeed in the movie, to be revealed later.
There are a few Infinity Stones we haven’t seen yet. Might one of them be important to this movie?
…Shall we look at an eye of some sort?
More on the Eye of Agamotto and the stone within it later…
21. The Cloak of Levitation is Asymmetric and A Character of Its Own
In a rather interesting visual sequence in the recent Doctor Strange trailer and TV spots, there’s a shot where Stephen Strange, in his master garb and sporting the Eye of Agamotto - suits up with the iconic cloak of leviation and it fits onto him itself. This important magical artifact is actually sentient in the movie and not symmetric in its design. From our chat with costume designer Alexandra Byrne you can get a sense of just how much work went into adapting the cloak.
Marvel Studios boss and producer Kevin Feige, adds more, using the cloak (yes, yet another red cape) as an example of where some of the supernatural elements are exemplified:
The cloak comes to live on screen thanks to a mixture of practical and digital effects but there’s a lot that went into the actual fabric and design:
20. The Illuminati Are Coming to the MCU
In our interview with Benedict Cumberbatch on the set of Doctor Strange, the actor flat out namedropped the Illuminati as something he’s excited about in the future. This doesn’t get namedropped unless Benedict read a lot about that and/or it came up in casual talks about the long-term plans for the character before he signed a multi-picture deal. Here’s a snippet from the Cumberbatch full interview.
Is there additional weight to the character and to the role, knowing that this is opening a whole new corner of this Marvel Universe that’s already existed?
19. Doctor Strange is a Supernatural Martial Arts Film
Despite director Scott Derrickson’s background and style - and the Fede Alvarez rumor of turning this project down (revealing what type of directors Kevin Feige and Marvel were looking for) - Doctor Strange is no horror movie. When chatting with Feige at the beginning of our set visit, he said only that Doctor Strange is vaguely a supernatural movie and to ask Derrickson for more. We knew martial arts seemed to be a big part of it, especially from discussing the different weapons and how they’re augmented with magic with Barry Gibbs, so we asked the director himself:
18. Doctor Strange is More Like Captain America 2 Than Guardians
As a genre, the easiest way to classify Doctor Strange is as a supernatural martial arts movie and while there’s clearly fun and humor to be had with a star like Benedict Cumberbatch - as evidenced by the Doctor Strange trailers so far - there’s also a sense of darkness. In fact, director Scott Derrickson compares Doctor Strange more to Captain America: The Winter Soldier than Guardians of the Galaxy which some may find surprising.
Is there a sense of humor to it as well?
Where does that–?
By playing it straight it’s funny or is he–?
17. There Are LOTS of Magical Objects (And One Original One)
Doctor Strange fans have much to look forward to with the character’s origin movie bringing in plenty of magic and magic artifacts into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here’s a snippet from our interview with director Scott Derrickson about the audience acceptance of magic.
We heard a little bit about some of the weapons and artifacts and how deeply connected they are because they work in certain dimensions and don’t and that’s about all we heard. So what can you tell us about that and how much of those are being pulled right out of the comics? ‘Cause obviously the Eye of Agamotto is there, but…
What about the Sling Rings?
More on the Sling Rings soon…
16. The Idea of Immortality is a Big Part of Doctor Strange
The Ancient One, as depicted in Doctor Strange is a Celtic woman who’s hundreds of years old. For Oscar Winner Tilda Swinton, this isn’t the first time playing a timeless sort of character with great power.
15. There Are 3 Sanctum Santorums
In Marvel Comics, Doctor Strange resides at 177A Bleecker Street in New York’s Greenwich Village - a magically protected place known as the Sanctum Sanctorum. It’s connected to mystical energies that we can think of as veins throughout the planet. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are three such locations, including the iconic New York on depicted in concept art above.
Below is a quote from Barry Gibbs from the set of Doctor Strange where he explains the design process behind the Eye of Agamatto and how it ended up featuring the symbol from the New York Sanctum (see: the window design). There are other symbols for the London and Hong Kong Sanctum Sanctorums.
14. The Ebony Blade Was Almost in The Movie
While browsing some of the props of Doctor Strange with art department head Barry Gibbs, I noticed that one of the magic books had a drawing of a recognizable weapon in it. It was the Ebony Blade so we asked Gibbs if it shows up in the movie.
From our Guide To Doctor Strange’s Magical Artifacts:
Culled from the pages of Marvel’s medieval realms, in specific, the adventures of Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, the Ebony Blade made its first appearance in Black Knight #1. Originally, Merlin carved the shadowy foil from a meteor (how’s that for sci-fi Dark Ages), enchanting it for Sir Percy of Scandia, the first Black Knight. Sir Percy wasn’t exactly a happy-go-lucky crusader, and the violence attributed to his sword cursed it to thirst for souls. After it had caused him no end of trouble, the Black Knight buried the doomed weapon deep in the meteor from whence it came.
Although Marvel has no plans for a Black Knight film, the Ebony Blade has connections to the current MCU and Doctor Strange (of course). After the sword turned Whitman to stone during The Defenders escapades, Valkyrie (played by Tessa Thompson) held onto it, eventually returning it to Whitman and receiving Dragonfang for her troubles (more on that later). The troublesome blade also nearly caused The Vision to destroy the weapon due to its evil-villain-making tendencies.
Capable of cutting through nearly any substance (even opening up Iron Man like a tin can, once), aside from most enchanted weapons and adamantium, the Ebony Blade can also slice and dice ethereal barriers, deflect energy blasts, and absorb those same energies. At one point, our man Strange removed the curse at the Black Knight’s behest. However, the curse has since returned, thanks to Namor murdering his wife.
Of course, the Ebony Blade does get swiped or duped every now and then – even making its way to Wakanda. When the enchanted rapier goes for a walk, the good doctor might need a little travel wear to recover it.
13. The Book of Cagliostro Is In It
Another prop Barry Gibbs called out during a walkthrough of various set props from Doctor Strange was a particularly important book that hardcore Marvel readers may recognize.
The libraries of Doctor Strange may or may not contain (depending upon who you ask) dozens of tomes featuring mystical mumbo jumbo spanning the multiverse. The Book of Cagliostro collects the esoteric writings and experience of the 18th century magician, whose name or nom-de-plume was Alessandro Di Cagliostro, into one convenient catalog. The warlock also transcribed the spells and wisdom of time-traveling 31st century sorcerer Sise-Neg into its pages, as well as witchery from the Darkhold.
The family and followers of the wizard protected the magical artifact, passing it down through their generations. Eventually, the book wound up in the hands of Cagliostro’s great-great-granddaughter Lilia Calderu. The Gypsy witch wound up being seduced by an old fiend of the Doc’s, Karl Mordo. The Baron hoped to gain the powers contained within the book to get one over on the Ancient One. Upon his defeat by Doctor Strange (as per usual), the Sorcerer Supreme spirited the spell guide back to its lair, where it presumably dwells to this day.
This particular curio, at least according to the prelude comics, has a strong connection to Strange’s nemesis Kaecilius in the forthcoming cinematic outing. Fans could catch a glimpse of the Book of Cagliostro in the film. Of course, they’ll probably see a whole lot more of the next couple of artifacts – including Strange’s very own crystal ball of sorts.
12. We See Stephen Strange Go Through All the Ranks of Kamar-Taj
When chatting with star Benedict Cumberbatch about his various costumes, much of which we saw in concept art or live up close, he was wearing the garb of the first rank. What we saw being shot that day is in the early days of Strange’s training, but fans will get to see him train through all of the ranks before becoming the next Sorcerer Supreme.
