"The Avengers protect the world from physical dangers. We safeguard it against more mystical threats." With that line of dialogue, Marvel Studios tries to declare, with certainty, how its fourteenth feature film, Doctor Strange, will stand apart from everything that came before it. We have shared a number of stories about Doctor Strange from our recent set visit. But you want to see new footage! Well, here you go:
The focus of this new trailer falls on Stephen Strange, renowned neurosurgeon, encountering The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and learning more about the mystic arts. The quote I pulled from above is from Wong (Benedict Wong), the one-time manservant of Doctor Strange -- in the comics, at least -- who has now become a trained warrior in the Ancient One's Karma-Taj who ends up collaborating with Strange, though more as a peer. From what we could tell while visiting the set, it will be Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who recruits Strange, but Wong who helps to properly train him.
After that, we get more finished visual effects that promise to set Scott Derrickson's first Marvel movie apart from the previous Marvel movies. Doctor Strange will derive visual cues from the mind-bending Marvel comics of the 1960s and '70s, when Stan Lee and Steve Ditko were pushing the envelope in terms of superhero storytelling. In this new trailer, we see building being split in half so they can twist, we see Strange and Mordo falling from the skies to land on the sides of buildings, and we seen the villain warping reality to get into Strange's head.
In those interactions, we also get a hint of the humor that will be on display in Doctor Strange. Just as the previous trailer ended on a laugh about the Wifi password at the Karma-Taj, this one ends with some dry wordplay between Cumberbatch's egotistical hero and Kaecilius, the sorcerer portrayed by Mikkelsen. Outside of a superhero movie, these two are some of the best actors working today. Now we can't wait to see how they play off of each other in an action-packed, supernatural martial arts movie.
Doctor Strange will serve as an origin story for the Sorcerer Supreme, and open the MCU up to the larger world of magic. We expect it to transition Phase Three of Marvel's movies to another realm, especially as Infinity Stones are discovered, and Thanos becomes more of a factor. The movie opens everywhere on November 4. Are you excited for it?
