Neil Gaiman is one of the most celebrated comic book writers ever, whose works have spawned several film and television adaptations. Gaiman has also worked with both Marvel and DC comics over the course of his illustrious career, yet his stint with them has largely been ignored, at least in the live-action domain.
Gaiman, who’s currently enjoying the success of his Sandman adaptation on Netflix, recently revealed that he has unsuccessfully pitched multiple projects to Marvel Studios over the years, including a Doctor Strange movie in collaboration with Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) and a Marvel 1602 adaptation.
Speaking with Josh Horowitz of the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast (via The Direct), Gaiman recalled his meetings with Marvel boss Kevin Feige and his Doctor Strange movie ideas.
"Kevin and I have spoken a few times over the years on things. The only one that I wish, although, odds are probably, I think the way they did it commercially was better than…but I remember back in 2007, having minimalistic conversations with Kevin Feige about ‘What about Doctor Strange?’ Then talking to Guillermo del Toro, and Guillermo and I having these ideas about Doctor Strange and starting the beginning, me starting the beginning of the conversation with Kevin about ‘I could do Doctor Strange with Guillermo.’ And basically, they said ‘We just want to concentrate on the core characters right now. Doctor Strange is way up the line, we don’t want to go there.’"
It's odd that Marvel would pass on Doctor Strange in favor of "core characters," considering he is just as if not more popular than Iron Man, the character who launched the MCU in 2008. Perhaps the studio found Doctor Strange too obscure at the time.
Neil Gaiman Wanted A ‘1920s Setting For His Doctor Strange Origin Movie
Neil Gaiman had some radical ideas for his Doctor Strange movie. The acclaimed writer wanted the Sorcerer Supreme’s origin story to be set in the early 20th century. However, it wouldn’t completely take place in that era, and Doctor Strange would eventually grow old (but still look the same) and appear in modern times.
"There were some cool things in it. My favorite Doctor Strange thing was the idea of…the one thing that we really wanted to do was have his adventures, have him become an alcoholic and a disbarred physician, all that sort of stuff, happen in the 1920s. So the idea is that, he went though all of that and the training to become the world’s greatest magician maybe in the early ’30s, late ’20s, and he’s been living in Greenwich Village for 90 years looking the same in his place, and nobody really notices. We just sort of liked that idea, and he would have been sort of out of time. But other than that, it would have just been very sort of Steve Ditko, because, you know, that’s the best."
Gaiman and del Toro’s ideas do sound intriguing, but unfortunately, we can only wonder what the MCU would be like today had Feige moved forward with Doctor Strange back in 2007. The character made his live-action film debut in 2016’s underrated Doctor Strange which was followed up by Sam Raimi in 2021 with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
A third Doctor Strange movie is most likely happening as suggested by Multiverse of Madness’s post-credits scene, and Guillermo del Toro would be a phenomenal choice for the director. He already has experience with comic book movies, having helmed Blade II and the Hellboy series. Del Toro also spent years developing the Justice League Dark movie, which probably isn’t happening now, leaving him free to join the MCU.
As for Neil Gaiman, he is currently campaigning for season two of The Sandman, arguably the best adaptation of his works, but Netflix is still on the fence about it. Hopefully, The Sandman won't suffer the same fate as Cowboy Bebop or Resident Evil.