Now that moviegoers have had time to marinate on Benedict Cumberbatch’s eye-popping debut as the Sorcerer Supreme, we’re beginning to get a better understanding of Doctor Strange thanks to a string of post-launch interviews with the cast and crew.
Just yesterday, for instance, director Scott Derrickson peeled back the layers of a Strange fan theory that involved a Captain Marvel Easter egg. Most, if not all of Marvel’s movies tend to be loaded with moments of fan service, and there’s certainly plenty to digest coming out of Doctor Strange. That being said, had things panned out differently during the script stage, Derrickson and Co. may have settled for a different villain other than Mads Mikkelsen’s beady-eyed Kaecilius.
In a spoiler-heavy chat with Empire, Scott Derrickson reflected on his conversations with Marvel boss Kevin Feige, who effectively steered talk away from Nightmare – a nemesis that will seemingly crop up in the inevitable sequel – in fear that the supervillain would confuse audiences in a movie already loaded with mind-bending exposition. Dormammu became the natural alternative to Nightmare, and Feige’s decision to place the entire Dream Dimension on the back-burner ought to be commended.
Here’s the quote from Derrickson:
“Kevin [Feige] made a very cogent case. The trouble with starting with Nightmare is getting across the idea of the Dream Dimension as another dimension. The movie was challenging enough. It’s already an exposition-heavy movie…Dormammu made the most sense. And he is the most present villain in the comics.”
Doctor Strange is out in theaters now (our review), and there’s already mooted talks of a sequel after those post-credit stings.
