By Brandon T. McClure (@btmcclure @fakenerdpodcast)
The MCU, specifically the Infinity Saga (2008-2019) has meant a great deal to me, as I am sure it has for many people. What first started as a book pitch is now a series of essays of mine that will be (hopefully) published every week. The goal is to pick a specific moment within The Infinity Saga and share with you why I believe it’s a defining moment. To revisit previous posts, visit our site HERE.
Enjoy the ride as we count down from 50 of the most defining moments and share your thoughts in the comments.
• A BATTLE IN REVERSE•
MOMENT# 38
MOVIE: Doctor Strange
DIRECTORS: Scott Derrickson
WRITERS: Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill
Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) & Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Doctor Strange
With a franchise as vast as the Marvel Cinematic Universe there will always be critics. “The Marvel Formula” is something that gets thrown around a lot when people critique the franchise, but it tends to mean different things to different people. It could mean that they don’t like “MCU humor” or that they don’t like how the films are structured. In this case, the third act of a Marvel film is criticized for sharing the same beats as any other film. Perhaps you’ve heard this one before: A hero with a certain ability squares off with the villain of the same specific ability in a dreary location with a lot of CG to bring the overly choreographed fight to life. That might be true for a number of their origin films, but not all of them. A few have strayed from this “formula” throughout the years, in this case, Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange was the second film in Phase Three. The origin story for the future Sorcerer Supreme saw the brilliant, but arrogant surgeon, Dr. Stephen Strange get into a horrific car crash (which honestly should deserve a moment on its own) that cost him the use of his hands. He goes on to spend his entire fortune trying to find a way to heal his hands again, but nothing worked. Finally, he found his way to Kamar-Taj, where he was taken in to learn the mystic arts. There he meets Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Wong (Benedict Wong), and the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). Turns out, he had a natural gift for it, even learning to wield the legendary Eye of Agamotto. When a former Master of the Mystic Arts, Kaecellius (Mads Mikkelsen), becomes a zealot of Dormomu of the Dark Dimension, he begins a plan to bring the Dark Dimension to Earth. When Strange and Mordo catch up with him, it’s already too late.
Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) and Doctor Strange in Doctor Strange
In an almost complete disregard for the “formula”, the final act of Doctor Strange begins after Kaecellius has already won the day. Earth is lost. The only way to fix it is to reverse it, so Strange activates the Eye of Agamotto (which is actually the Time Stone) and leads into one of the most unique third acts in Marvel’s history. While Strange, Mordo, and a resurrected Wong are fighting, the city is repairing itself while cars and people fly past them in reverse. The fight between the sorcerers is moving forward in time and they’re able to use the “anti-destruction” to their advantage, sometimes trapping someone in a new fixed wall or climbing up a scaffold that’s reassembling. It would have been easy for something like this to devolve into unintelligible noise, but every step of the fight was so expertly choreographed that the audience never gets lost. Instead, they’re allowed to marvel at the expert visuals on display. Doctor Strange doesn’t even end with a fight scene, it ends with the main character dying hundreds of times. While in the Dark Dimension, Strange traps him and Dormammu in a time loop that can’t be broken. This wears Dormammu out and the lord of the Dark Dimension just gives up his conquest of Earth.
Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) with the Eye of Agamotto in Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange is a movie filled with an inventive visual flair that helps it stand out from the rest of the films in the franchise. The filmmakers seemed to want to make a deliberate effort in making the film feel as unique as possible. It felt like Marvel Studios had begun to take some of the discourse around the franchise to heart and wanted to be better. Marvel cultivated a loyal audience and in order to keep them interested, they had to stray from the “formula” and Doctor Strange was an important first step.