Before it was released, some naysayers predicted that Doctor Strange would be the first Marvel film since The Incredible Hulk to disappoint at the box office. How wrong they were, as the mind-bending sci-fi blockbuster stormed to a $675.8 million gross, while also being met with superlative reviews. But that doesn't mean that the film doesn't have its flaws. Thankfully, the good folks over at Honest Trailers have decided to point out the various issues with Doctor Strange for our enjoyment, and boy have they found some absolute corkers.
Is it just me, or has Doctor Strange just been slightly ruined for everyone else, too? That's not Honest Trailers' fault, it's just that the startling similarities between Doctor Strange and Iron Man are so copious and blatant that I suddenly feel cheated and sullen by the film. OK, maybe it is Honest Trailers and Screen Junkies' fault a little.
Let's look at the evidence that they provide. First of all, the characters are both eerily similar, as they're cocky, but capable workaholics, who are super rich, have weird goatees and they are even both in love with their red-headed subordinates, too. But the real kicker comes from the fact that both Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr. have portrayed Sherlock Holmes in hugely successful adaptations. That's just freaky.
This isn't the first time that Marvel has used Iron Man's structure and characteristics as a template for another of their origin stories. Because as well as doing so for Doctor Strange, they did it for Ant-Man, too. In fact, as Honest Trailers rightfully points out, while Ant-Man is Iron Man but small, Doctor Strange is just Iron Man on weed.
It's not just the similarities to Iron Man that forced Honest Trailers to put the boot into Doctor Strange. Once again the Marvel Cinematic Universe's rather lame action was critiqued, especially as it seemingly just consisted of punches and quick edits that by this point have long become a bore. Meanwhile the film's supporting characters were so remarkably dull that Doctor Strange's cloak possesses more personality than all of them combined.
Then there was Benedict Cumberbatch's accent, which, as Honest Trailers rightfully points out, was a carbon copy of Hans Gruber when he pretended to be American in Die Hard. Of course, we here at CinemaBlend always appreciate a doff of the cap to the greatest action film ever made. But there's a time and a place, and this was neither.
Still, Marvel will have plenty of opportunities to right these wrongs. Because not only is Benedict Cumberbatch already confirmed to be reprising his role as the Sorcerer Supreme in Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War and whatever the fourth Avengers film is called, too, but the success of Doctor Strange suggests that a sequel will be green-lit in due course, too.
