Don't expect DOCTOR STRANGE to be an origin story

There’s an idea that every single superhero movie released has to first set up the origin story. In some cases, that makes for some dandy viewing, but in today’s connected world, it has begun to feel unnecessary. Way back in 1989, Tim Burton’s Batman created a hero flick where the vigilante was already in action, while the more recent Guardians Of The Galaxy was very light on origin exposition. Expect the same for Doctor Strange.

Hell, expect the same for all Marvel movies from now on. According to Badass Digest‘s Devin Faraci, appearing on the Schmoes Know Network, Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange is going to have an established Sorcerer Supreme when that movie begins:

Doctor Strange, they had a script in house forever….It’s a pretty standard origin story for Doctor Strange, it’s gotta Baron von Mordo as the bad guy. That’s all gone. Marvel’s new thing is no more origin stories. So Doctor Strange’s movie no longer has an origin. It begins in media res, it’s got Doctor Strange all ready established as The Sorcerer Supreme. It’s a totally new script. Jon Spaiths is working totally new, on his own, without any of the previous stuff. They’re not even touching the previous script….This is not going to be 20 minutes of him as a doctor.

It feels like a bit of a risky move, but at the same time, it’s one that can prevent the genre from becoming too predictable. And the thing is, I kinda dig the Doctor Strange origin. This is a story about a man who has everything, loses it all during a moment of pure arrogance and travels the world to regain it all. And when he’s given the chance to do so, he instead decides to willingly give up a chance to be the man who he once was and instead become the mystic protector of Earth.

That’s a great story, but at the same time, we don’t want to see “20 minutes” of him as the Doctor of the mystic arts.

Last Updated: August 19, 2014