8 Questions We Have After Watching Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange finally made its way into (certain) cinemas this week and has turned out to be yet another strong entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yes, it looks great and the cast is solid, but what's most refreshing about it is that it's largely a standalone movie, content to tell the origin story of its hero without much interference from the rest of the MCU, somewhat in the style of Guardians of the Galaxy. By the time the credits roll, then, we have lots of questions about how the movie fits into the bigger picture and what effect its events will have in the future. Alternatively, Doctor Strange isn't afraid to leave a few loose ends of its own narrative open, leaving us to wonder how they'll be addressed in a sequel. Here, then, are 8 burning questions that we have after watching the film. Beware though that spoilers will follow, so you may want to bookmark this page and come back later if you haven't seen it yet. 8) How Long Did Doctor Strange’s Training Last? When Stephen Strange loses the use of his hands in a car accident, he scours the world looking for a way to heal them. When he meets the Ancient One and learns of the mystic arts, she informs him that it will take a long period of studying and practice for him to master these new abilities. For us, this long period takes about an hour. But the movie never specifies just how long Strange studied in Kamar-Taj for. There are some factors here that can give us a clue as to the time frame of the movie, though. Chiefly, there's Strange and Christine’s relationship to consider. When he eventually returns to New York, she seems surprised to see him but not enough to suggest that it's been years. Likewise, he mentions how he's emailed her many times but she never responded. We can guess, then, that he has only been away a fair few months. This sounds like a quite a brief period of time in which to learn how to become a master magician, but we're told that Strange has a photographic memory and was apparently born for the mystic arts. Two things which would speed his studying time along. 7) Will Rachel McAdams Get More To Do Next Time? Much was said before Doctor Strange came out about its high-caliber cast. With three Oscar-nominated actors and one Oscar winner in the credits list, would they all get a decent crack at the whip? Unfortunately, someone in the ensemble did draw the short straw – and that’s Rachel McAdams. As Strange’s New York-bound love interest Christine Palmer, McAdams is kept out of the main loop of the narrative and only prominently appears in the first act and a bit of the second. She’s still a more likeable romantic foil than certain other characters we could mention, but a bit more from Christine would have been nice. Hopefully, McAdams will get a lot more to do in the sequel. The first movie ends on a surprisingly ambiguous note regarding the relationship between Strange and Christine, so the follow-up will presumably put a lot of emphasis on clearing up their complicated love life. With any luck, it will also flesh out Christine beyond her feelings for Stephen. Perhaps she could even become Night Nurse – the medical practitioner who treats injured superheroes in the comics? Claire Temple looks to be going the same way in the TV shows, but the MCU is surely big enough for two such characters. 6) Will Tilda Swinton Get Her Prequel? Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, on the other hand, is a more fulfilling character. It’s not that we get to know a lot about her, but the deliberate mystery surrounding the character is what makes her interesting. Unfortunately, she went and got herself killed in the movie (as wise mentor characters tend to do), so it doesn’t look likely that we'll get any more from her in future. Or will we? Swinton apparently had such a blast playing the part that she's trying to get an Ancient One prequel movie off the ground. Here’s what she had to say on the subject: “I am constantly dropping hints to Kevin Feige that I finally think he’s beginning to realize I’m not joking about a prequel. I want a prequel of the setting up of Kamar-Taj with Mordo, The Ancient One and Wong. That’s what I want and I’m telling you here right now.” In reality, there’s not a lot of chance of this happening (Marvel haven’t even got around to a Black Widow solo movie yet, for crying out loud). That said, Swinton’s ideas would be very interesting to explore in, say, Doctor Strange 2. Perhaps whatever evil force threatens the multiverse next also previously encountered the Ancient One, allowing for flashbacks to the character’s past. 5) Will Dormammu Return? Like Galactus from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer or Parallax from Green Lantern before him, the all-powerful cosmic being that is Dormammu is reduced to a barely-seen third act big bad in Doctor Strange. What saves him from the terrible fate of those two adaptations of fan favourite villains, though, is that his big scene is actually very effective. Rather than the usual third act punch-up, Strange defeats Dormammu in a battle of wits. Armed with the Eye of Agamotto, he traps the entity in a time loop until he agrees to let the Earth go… at least for now. Given that Strange did not wound or imprison Dormammu in any way, the ruler of the Dark Dimension is still out there waiting to get his grubby hands on Earth. So it's possible that he could turn up again in the next movie. Perhaps he'll take humanoid form and gain the iconic fiery head of his comic book counterpart? On the other hand, Marvel isn’t big on returning villains (except Loki, of course), so it would seem unlikely that Dormammu will reappear in the very next movie. We'll keep our fingers crossed though. 4) Will Mordo Be The Main Villain Of Doctor Strange 2? The other figure we expect to be an antagonist in Doctor Strange 2 is Mordo, as played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Far removed from the character on the page, the movie Mordo is not a power-hungry black sorcerer but begins the film as a loyal acolyte of the Ancient One and an ally of Strange’s in the battle against Kaecilius. When he learns that the Ancient One was leeching power from the Dark Dimension to sustain her own life, his faith in her teachings is shattered. After the world is saved, he and Strange go their separate ways. Just to confirm that Mordo has started on the path towards becoming the comics character, the post-credits scene sees him visiting Jonathan Pangborn, a low-level sorcerer who fixed his paralysis through magic. Deciding that “the world has too many sorcerers," Mordo removes Pangborn’s magic – and thereby the use of his legs. All this seems to point to Mordo becoming the main villain of Doctor Strange 2. If so, it should make for an interesting hero/villain dynamic and a more sympathetic antagonist than usual. Unlike others, Mordo wouldn't be after personal power, but just does what he believes is necessary to ensure the world's safety. 3) When Will Strange Become The Sorcerer Supreme? Love them or hate them, the superhero origins movie is a necessity, moving the character from a believable, everyday person into a larger-than-life hero. The best bit, of course, comes at the end where they're finally the superhero we know from the comics. Except Doctor Strange, that is, who still has one important step to go before he's truly the character from the source material. Though the final shots of the movie show him in full costume and standing in the window of his Sanctum Sanctorum, he has yet to become the Sorcerer Supreme – despite the Ancient One vacating the position earlier on in the movie. In a way, it makes sense that the character doesn't gain the title in this film, seeing as he's still a fairly new convert to the ways of the mystic arts. That being said, he did just save the multiverse, so the guy surely deserves the title in an honorary capacity, at least. The question we're left with though is: when will Strange finally become the Sorcerer Supreme? The obvious answer would be in Doctor Strange 2, but it seems certain we'll see him a few times before them (Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War and the untitled fourth Avengers movie). Who knows, the important moment could be squeezed into one of these. 2) Will Time Travel And The Multiverse Be Important Going Forward? The most talked-about element of Doctor Strange is how it introduces magic and mysticism into the up until now science-based Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film goes to great lenghts to explain it that there's a cosmic, quasi-scientific force behind it, to fit in with what we know about this universe already, but it still opens lots of possibilities for the future. Some of which we have a strong suspicion will be of importance down the line. For instance, the film introduces us to other dimensions – such as the mirror universe and the Dark Dimension. While the latter became a big part of the narrative, the mirror universe seemed to be there to sow a seed for another movie. For instance, the Ancient One explained that it would the perfect place to imprison someone… yet this never happened in the film. Likewise, the Eye of Agamotto (really an Infinity Stone) grants Strange the ability to turn back to time – which he uses to save Hong Kong after it was attacked by Kaecilius’s Zealots. Given how useful an ability this is, we're sure we haven’t seen the last of it in the MCU. Chiefly, we suspect that these two aspects will play a big part in Avengers: Infinity War. Perhaps a combination of them will be how the Avengers ultimately defeat Thanos? 1) Is Doctor Strange The Most Powerful MCU Hero? As the ability to move between dimensions and turn back time demonstrates, Doctor Strange is a pretty powerful man by the end of the movie. So powerful, in fact, that you could make a good case for him being the most powerful hero in the Marvel movie universe. None of the original five Avengers come close, with their powers basically limited to super strength and/or flight. More recent additions like Scarlet Witch and Vision are quite powerful - and we still don’t know what the limits of their abilities are, having both got their powers from the Mind Stone – but nonetheless they couldn’t match Strange. This man, with the help of the odd magical artefact, can alter the very fabric of reality. No wonder Zola’s algorithm predicted he would be a big threat back in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Come Avengers: Infinity War, it’s safe to say that he'll be a key weapon in the Avenger’s arsenal against Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet. After that, Strange's supreme levels of power will mark him out as the natural successor to either Iron Man or Captain America (assuming one or both of the characters exit the franchise) as the new figurehead of the Avengers. For more on Doctor Strange, be sure to check out our easter eggs video below.