BURBANK – “Doctor Strange” is less than a month away from unleashing its magic upon us, but Marvel Studios and Disney previewed about 15 minutes of the expected blockbuster Monday night for a theater of eager fans. Scott Derrickson’s passion project to bring Marvel’s superhero sorcerer to the big screen features about an hour of IMAX footage, and the different dimensions Strange will travel through are impressive on the IMAX screen. It also appears The Ancient One has a substantial-enough role that Tilda Swinton is making more than just a cameo.
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After the event, director Derrickson and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige chatted with a select group of press about “Doctor Strange” and everything going on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yes, we discovered “Blade” isn’t close to returning any time soon and that “Captain Marvel” will be an origin story. What else did we learn? Let’s find out.
Has anyone major ever said ‘No’ to starring in an MCU movie?
“I think so. I always think of Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson. They were great actors doing these kinds of movies for a long time, and Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen back on the first ‘X-Men’ movie, the first Marvel movie I was a part of. So, I think there is a tradition. I will say it does seem like a rite of passage now and people actively [inquire]. Cate Blanchett really, really wanted to be in ‘Thor’ and that was amazing and that’s something we look at as a privilege and take very seriously. Meaning, that green screen behind them or that wire they are hanging on or those pajamas with the dots on it will look very cool at the end of the day. And it will, obviously, because of the technicians and the artists, but mainly because of their performance; that is why want great actors like that. And the embarrassment of riches in [“Doctor Strange”] is a great sign of that.”
– Kevin Feige
How a long prep schedule assisted in “Doctor Strange”’s amazing visuals
“We had a really short production schedule and short post schedule because we moved it for Benedict [Cumberbatch]. We had a long prep schedule to do [research and development], which is the best. If you could have one stage to have extra time, it’s prep. So, we had all these visual ideas worked out so when we were shooting, I knew what it was going to look like and I was able to show images and previz and photo-real concept art to the actors and be like, ‘This is what you’re looking at!’”
– Scott Derrickson
Were there any visual elements in “Doctor Strange” that was harder to pull off than you thought?
“All of them. Really, all of them. Honestly, the goal was to have the set piece feel like [nothing] you’ve seen before. It will remind you somewhat of things, but it will be very different than what you’ve seen before. That was the goal, at least, and some of them were totally original. I think they all worked out very well. Some were harder than others. Some gave me more sleepless nights than others. I think we got there.”
– Scott Derrickson
Did you know that Ant-Man was going to drop into Doctor Strange’s world at all?
“No, when we were doing all of our concept art and going into some of the psychedelic realms that you saw the dimensions and stuff, the only thing I was told by Kevin one day was, ‘By the way, we’re going into another quantum realm, so heads up.’ ‘I don’t know what the hell that means, but O.K.’ And then I saw it [and] thought it was great, but it didn’t really overlap with that.”
– Scott Derrickson
It’s really magic for “Doctor Strange”
“We had a science advisor on the movie. This guy named Adam Frank, he’s one of the science spokesmen for NPR. A personal friend of mine, a really amazing guy, and there was talk about rooting some of the ideas in science, and I ended up really moving away from that because I think magic should be magic. And they did that in ‘Thor.’ There was a lot of rooting the fantastical elements of Asgard in ‘Thor’ in the scientific, and I liked that. But magic is another thing. What makes magic feel magical is the mystery. So, I think there is something about the Doctor Strange comics and I think is true about the movie is that it is rooted in mysticism and possibilities that science is pointing out to us like the multiverse, but it transcends religion and science. It’s its own thing. It’s its own unique, multi-dimensional, mystical realm, and that makes the magic feel magical. It makes the real world feel magical when you’re watching sorcerers walk around New York City. It’s great. I think there is certainly a respect for science, but magic is the magic in ‘Doctor Strange.'”
– Scott Derrickson
The director may have a horror background, but “Doctor Strange” won’t feel like a horror movie
“There were some individual shots I knew I would get in trouble with the ratings board, so I had to dial them back, but I didn’t have to fight for a PG-13. It doesn’t cry out for horror or gore or dread or jump scares. It feels different. It’s darker than most Marvel movies and more serious in some ways, too, but I wouldn’t call it horrific.”
– Scott Derrickson
