 | Get ready for your close-up, Dr. Strange |
Master of the mystic arts, guardian of humanity against the forces of darkness, Dr. Strange is an ideal choice for the next Marvel Comics property for the big screen.
The arrogant and selfish Stephen Strange was a gifted surgeon who only used his gifts for personal gain. So brash is Strange that he smokes (again) in the operating room! After cannily finagling a business deal out of what should have been pro bono work, Strange is involved in a horrible car accident that robs him of his talented hands. Refusing to be anything but a brilliant surgeon, Strange spends all of his money foolishly attempting to heal his hands with no success. Strange ends up a vagrant, hopelessly wandering the streets until he hears of the 'Ancient One' who may hold some solution in far off Tibet.
Strange manages to find his way to the far off land and also to the home of the Ancient One but still has not learned humility. In the home of the wise seer, he meets the Ancient One's pupil, Baron Mordo… who is definitely evil. Mordo has plans for the Ancient One that will result in him stealing the old man's power from him, leaving Mordo as the Sorcerer Supreme. Strange elects to stay on in order to somehow stop Mordo.
Somehow Strange side-steps learning humility to discovering that the energy fueling his immense ego can instead be transfered to something akin to courage. (full article here)
The idea of a Dr. Strange film itself is not exactly new. Alex Cox (Repo Man) had worked on a script ages ago and an infamous TV movie was released in 1978. In 1992, another attempt was made by eventually released as Doctor Mordrid starring Re-Animator's Jeffrey Combs. Perhaps this time, we will finally see a high quality feature film version of Dr. Strange along the lines of Thor, Iron Man and Captain America (rather than Ghost Rider and Elektra). What is interesting is that this will be the first project by Marvel Entertainment released under Walt Disney Pictures banner.
Via ReelzChannel:
Last June, Marvel Studios hired Conan: The Barbarian reboot screenwriters Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to write a script for a potential Doctor Strange movie. While not the most well-known character in Marvel's canon, the move was an attempt to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and one that was approved by the character's creator, Stan Lee.
While Oppenheimer and Donnelly obviously have experience working with supernatural and fantasy comic book characters after working on Conan and Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, their script was apparently good enough for Marvel to move forward. Twitch Film reports that Marvel has received the Doctor Strange script and are putting together a shortlist of directors in order to find someone to "oversee continued development".
While the Twitch report remains unconfirmed, it did get us thinking about which directors could end up on Marvel's shortlist. Director Francis Lawrence is no stranger to comic book adaptations that include the magic and sorcery, even if his 2005 adaptation of Constantine opened to mixed results amongst audiences. It doesn't appear that Warner Bros. will bring back director Martin Campbell for Green Lantern 2, leaving the Casino Royale director available, but, considering the poor box office results for Green Lantern, perhaps Marvel will look elsewhere.
Another pie-in-the-sky candidate, if he's available, is Sam Raimi, who is no longer tied to the Spider-Man franchise and could be looking to get back into the comic book movie business. The combination of Raimi's signature visual style, combined with his proven success with comic book characters, would make him ideal for Dr. Strange.
Whomever Marvel chooses, they have time. Any potential Dr. Strange movie won't reach theaters until at least 2014, as 2013 will already see the releases of Thor 2 and Iron Man 3. Then there's the possible sequels of Captain America 2 and, should The Avengers prove successful at the box office next summer, an Avengers 2. Marvel also has an Ant-Man adaptation in the works, with a new script from writer-directors Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish turned in last month.
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