Over the course ofPhase OneandPhase Two,Marvelhas told several origin stories. Back in August 2014, a rumor surfaced that one ofMarvel’s most highly-anticipated movies,Doctor Strange, was going to shake things up a bit, discarding the origin story from the comics and starting with Dr. Stephen Strange already established as a superhero. With production now set to begin in November,Kevin Feigedebunked that previous report, revealing that they are sticking with the origin story from theDoctor Strangecomics, while teasing that they may have a different way to tell it.
“For some reason people sometimes talked about how we’re not doing anorigin story, we’re bored of origin stories. I think people are bored of origin stories they’ve seen before or origin stories that are overly familiar.Doctor Strangehas one of the best, most classic, most unique origin stories of any hero we have, so why wouldn’t we do that? That was sort of always the plan. How you tell that origin, perhaps there are ways to twist it or play with that, but for the most part, it’s a gift when the comics have something with such clarity of story and of character. That doesn’t always happen in the comics, and when it does, you use it.”
Benedict Cumberbatchsigned on to play theSorcerer Supremeback in December, withTilda Swintonstarring asThe Ancient One,Chiwetel Ejioforportraying the villainous Baron Mordo andRachel McAdamsset to play the female lead. While her character has not yet been confirmed, there are rumors that she is actually playing Linda Carter, a.k.a. Night Nurse.Kevin Feigewouldn’t confirm her character’s identity, but he did state that she has a very large role in the story.
“She plays a very, very big part in the movie and represents a certain point of view of the worlds that we experience in that movie, butDoctor Strange, without a doubt, is the character we follow through the movie.”
Back in July,Tilda Swintonrevealed in an interview that she wasn’t sure ifMarvelwants her to play The Ancient One as a man or a woman. In the comics, The Ancient One has always been portrayed as a man, and, givenTilda Swinton’s history of playing androgynous characters in films likeConstantine,We Need to Talk About KevinandSnowpiercer(a role originally written for a man), many were wondering what the actress truly meant by those comments.Kevin Feigeclarified that The Ancient One would be a woman, although her portrayal will be quite “ambiguous.”
“We get an amazing actress to play an amazing character, and do it in a way that’s very unique and doesn’t fall into any outdated stereotypes that sometimes pop up in the comics from years past. It’s funny you ask ‘WillTilda Swintonbe playing a woman?’ and you ask it because she does an amazing job of being sort of ambiguous in terms of gender. I think you’ll see us playing it in ways that she’s played other characters that way. Clearly she’s a woman, but it is very ambiguous in her portrayal.”
Scott Derricksonis directingDoctor Strangefrom a script byJon Spaihts, based on the comic book character created byStan LeeandSteve Ditko. What changes toDoctor Strange’s origin story do you think will be made in this newMarveladventure? Let us know what you think, and stay tuned for more onDoctor Strangeas we get closer to production starting up.
