10 Facts About Doctor Strange
Published in Entertainment at March 29th, 2017 at 9:52 AM
With The Sorcerer Supreme officially being introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as him having an upcoming appearance in the next Thor film "Thor Dark World", Now is probably the best time to look into some facts surrounding good ol' Doctor Stephen Strange. Here's 10 Facts About Doctor Strange.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Preparation for the Role.
Initially, Benedict Cumberbatch did turn down the role of Doctor Strange due to schedule conflicts as well as the fact he was taking a gap year from acting, however was able to jump back on the project when production was pushed back.
He sees the Doctor Strange role as a “Sense of Spiritualism”, During his gap year, Cumberbatch volunteered to teach English at a Tibetan Monastery in India for an entire year and now claims this gap year helped him prepare for the role (Even if his gap year wasn't intended to prepare for the upcoming role).
Many directors have attempted to bring Doctor Strange to the big screen since the 80s
Since 1986, Many Directors, Writers and Producers have attempted to bring Strange to the big screen. These directors include David S. Goyer (The Writer for the Dark Knight Trilogy), Wes Craven (The Writer and Director of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream) and Bob Gale (Producer for the Back to the Future Trilogy). Even the creator, Stan Lee attempted to bring Strange to theatres & this is a guy who thought the character would be a failure before he was introduced in comics.
He wore a mask during the late 60s comics
We all know Doctor Strange's iconic costume. It's pretty much stayed the same throughout the years with only minor changes happening over time. Well for some reason In 1969, Marvel decided to give Strange a mask. Because of this drastic design choice, The mask made him look like a run of the mill, typical superhero. Because this decision wasn’t well received among fans, Marvel quickly scrapped the design and reverted him back to his previous one. Although Marvel on occasion go back to this design every once in a while.
-He is a part of the illuminati
Doctor Strange is usually seen to be loner which is quite uncommon within the Marvel Universe as most heroes are either linked to the Avengers or the X-men. Yes, Strange has fought with the Avengers on more than one occasion, but he has never been directly called an Avenger.
That being said however, he is apart of one group and that group is the Illuminati. This group is a combination of the elite minded within the Marvel Universe (Including Professor X and Tony Stark). This group works behind the scenes to ensure humanities safety from large threats.
Joaquin Phoenix almost got the role for the upcoming film
With a big role such as this, You have to expect a lot of big names throwing their name into mix in hopes of getting the role. With actors such as Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, Jared Leto and even Tom Hardy putting in the for the role (As if Tom Hardy hasn't already been casted in enough iconic roles.........Okay that's harsh. Tom Hardy is awesome!), there was only one front runner for the role and it wasn’t Benedict Cumberbatch.
Joaquin Phoenix was almost a sure fire thing to take up the role of The Sorcerer Supreme as he had been in talks for the role for 3 months. However for reasons unknown, He decided it would be best to leave the cape for another actor and dropped out of production.
His powers have been downgraded since his initial appearance
In recent years, Strange’s powers and abilities have been downgraded quite drastically. Evidence of this is that he himself was able to handle the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. Still not impressed?
How about that time when Doctor Strange was able to go up against Adam Warlock who wielded the gauntlet himself and managed to hold his own against him? No other Superhero could handle that sort of power.
Unfortunately, Marvel saw that this could potentially hurt the credibility of their other heroes and villains and as a result decided that it would be best to downgrade Doctor Strange's power.
Co founder of The Defenders
Although not a team player and certainly not an Avenger, Doctor Strange did Co Create the Defenders; A group of outsider superheroes who only assemble when they’re needed. This team consisted of Strange, The Hulk, Namor and The Silver Surfer. Their main focus was on the Supernatural rather than Biological, Terrorist or even extraterrestrial threats, At least that is until the Avengers took over that too.
He is a hero that blurs the line between Science and Magic
So unlike those fake doctors like Dr. Dre, , Dr. Seuss and Dr. Pepper. That's right we're on to you, You Half Cola, Half Root Beer Phoney! Anyway, Doctor Strange was actually a neurosurgeon doctor before donning the cape. With that in mind, you would think his powers would be more akin to scientific gadgets similar to Iron Man giving his intelligence and what not. Right?
Well not exactly. car accident, Strange searches the himalayas for the ancient one and is successful in his quest. It is here where he is taught everything there is to know about the Mystical Arts, successfully making the transition from scientist to shaman.
He has a Graphic Novel that you CAN’T read
Stan Lee has openly admitted that he only backed the character of Doctor Strange and gives full credit to Steve Ditko for creating the character. Ditko himself is an illustrator for the series and has been for the last 50 years.
Because Ditko has supported the character for so many years, you have to imagine how many stories he has created as well as collected for himself. Well there has been confirmation that Ditko has in fact written and illustrated an entire Doctor Strange novel, solely for his own personal collection meaning no one else has seen it. Not even Stan Lee.
He has already appeared in a live action form of Media
In the 70s, the Doctor Strange character had a 93 minute pilot episode for a proposed TV series was created for CBS, The same network that was airing episodes of other Marvel Superhero shows such as Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk at the time.
Unfortunately the Executives of the show opted out of commissioning a full season.Such as a shame really because if any of the previous 70s Marvel shows are anything to go by, this would have been amazing in terms of how campy and ridiculous it could have been!
