Earlier this morning, EW showed off their latest magazine cover, which gave us our first look at Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. This upcoming issue will be on newsstands this week, and promises to give us a deep dive into Marvel's Phase Three adventure. While we anxiously await the arrival of this expose, EW has offered a few more new photos, along with some captivating concept art and new story details. The first image has Dr. Stephen Strange engaging in one of the iconic gesticulations that will be used as part of Strange's spell-casting regime. About the spell-casting, Benedict Cumberbatch had this to say.
"These gestures are ways of creating the magic. It's a beautiful thing, it's balletic, it's very dynamic. And once the boys in the backroom get to work on it, there's going to be crazy s-t going on. There's all sorts of craziness [in Doctor Strange].Falling, flying, jumping, fighting, punching, getting punched. It's really rough and tumble."
Doctor Strange began shooting this past November in Nepal. The shoot will stretch all the way to March 2016. Benedict Cumberbatch is joined by an amazing ensemble cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amy Landecker, Scott Adkins and Mads Mikkelsen. With three more months of shooting left, Marvel still hasn't revealed which characters Mads Mikkelsen and Rachel McAdams are playing just yet. But that will all be revealed when the latest issue of EW hits the newsstands on Tuesday, where we'll learn if they fall on the side of good or evil. Here's what director Scott Derrickson, best known for such supernatural thrillers as Deliver Us from Evil and Sinister, had to say about working on the movie.
"I'm perpetually awestruck that I'm getting to make this movie. I keep waiting for the knock on the door when somebody says, 'This movie's too weird, we can't make this.'"
In the concept art, we get to see a sneak peek at Stephne Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, which is referred to as a 'Chamber of Relics'. We also get a look at the neurosurgeon and his injured hands, which helps end his career before setting off to become the Sorcerer Supreme. Prehaps the coolest photo finds Doctor Strange entering another cosmic plain of existence. About the trippy nature of the movie, producer Kevin Feige had this to say.
"When this comic appeared in the early '60s, it really informed, in a way that is pretty amazing, a lot of the psychedelic '60s as we know it. I don't know that they were doing anything weird in the bullpen in Marvel, but certainly the stuff they were doing inspired all those people who were doing mind-expansion experiments at the time. So, that's inherent to the property. And that's our mission statement for the visual effects on this movie."
When Doctor Strange began shooting earlier this year, we got a look at Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange before he becomes a superhero, on a quest to find the Ancient One. The actor wasn't the only one sought for the role, with Joaquin Phoenix almost signing on before deciding the role just wasn't for him. About eventually landing Joaquin Phoenix, Kevin Feige had this to say.
"[Benedict] was someone that we were very interested in for a very long time. But he kept getting more popular, and more popular, and he kept getting busier, and busier, and it looked like the timing wasn't going to work. So we looked at some other actors for a while and ultimately decided, 'We have to try and make it work with Benedict and with his schedule.'"
This issue of EW isn't just about Doctor Strange, either. They will be exploring Ben Affleck's Batcave in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, while chatting with Isaac Hempstead-Wright about Game of Thrones Season 6. The issue is out tomorrow, and promises to be full of even more never-before-revealed Doctor Strange secrets. Check back with us soon to learn more about Marvel's next big blockbuster. For now, check out these latest photos and art.
