Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige spoke to the movie blog Badass Digest and they asked him about the rumored “Doctor Strange” movie that is supposed to be on the horizon. Original rumors indicated that Marvel wanted “Doctor Strange” to be the next “Iron Man,” in other words a movie that could carry the Marvel movie universe through the next few years. While Feige didn’t have too much to say about the movie, or the rumored directors, he did have an interesting description of what he envisions the movie to look like.
After comparing it to the new television series “The Cosmos,” Feige said that the “Doctor Strange” movie should “be a Ditko/Kubrick/Miyazaki/The Matrix mind-trip.” That quote alone should give “Doctor Strange” comic book fans a lot to be excited about.
Steve Ditko
The best place to start off here is with Steve Ditko, the long time comic book artist who helped create superheroes like Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. His creation of Doctor Strange came in 1963 in the comic book series “Strange Tales.” It is assumed that, since Ditko created Strange, that Feige believed that the movie should play true to the characteristics of the character from the comics.
Stanley Kubrick
However, it is interesting to see Kubrick’s name listed here. For those who don’t know, Stanley Kubrick adapted almost every movie he made from other sources, from short stories (“2001: A Space Odyssey”) to novels (“The Shining”), but he was never really faithful. An example is “The Shining,” a movie that author Stephen King still dislikes because of the changes the director made to his source material. However, everything Kubrick did was usually accepted by fans as he remains known as one of cinema’s greatest directors.
Hayao Miyazaki
Of course, Hayao Miyazaki is considered one of cinema’s greatest animators and his films through Studio Ghibli remain critically acclaimed successes. Miyazaki retired last year, and his final film. “The Wind Rises” was nominated for an Oscar. Most of the films that Miyazaki made contained themes of humanity’s relationship with both nature and technology, which will play a large role in the “Doctor Strange” movie. According to Feige in the interview, Strange is a doctor who discovers magic but looks at it like a scientist would to understand it, tying things back to the “Cosmos” TV show.
“The Matrix”
The final comparison is “The Matrix” trilogy. Feige said that the way that Doctor Strange uses his magic will need to be impressive and unbelievable, and that is probably where “The Matrix” comes into play. At the time of its release, “The Matrix” was groundbreaking and revolutionary, with the bullet time effects changing how movies were made. With “Doctor Strange” being something completely different than the core “Avengers” movies, the groundbreaking technology will be imperative to help it succeed.
