Marvel is just not letting up. These past two weeks we’ve
been receiving a seemingly endless push of content and news from the comic book-movie
superpower: Luke Cage, the Iron Fist trailer, the Defenders
announcement at New York Comic Con. Now, they’ve screened a full 15 minutes of
mind-melting IMAX footage from their November 4th release Doctor
Strange. I can tell you first-hand, it’s a wonderful time to be a nerd.
The IMAX preview was essentially a 15 minute trailer,
speeding through the beats of the story until we get to the big five minute set
piece they wanted to show. Considering Doctor Strange’s high concept plot,
it was a smart move to show us highlights of his origin story before we start
having fun with action scenes.
The footage begins with clips showcasing Benedict Cumberbatch’s
Steven Strange, and his life as a cocky surgeon before becoming the Sorcerer
Supreme. He flirts with Rachel McAdams’s doctor character, and we see instances
of his push to take the most prestigious medical cases. Finally, we see him
swipe through cases on his phone while driving.
He crashes off a bridge, ending his career in the second-best IMAX car
crash of the year after 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Then the fun starts.
We see quick shots of his travels through the mountains to
the home of The Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton. This new footage of her
is a bit more promising than the initial trailers suggested. As far as the controversy
surrounding the casting of Swinton (her character is an Asian man in the comics)
I can only say that, for better or worse, she is simply playing another weird
Tilda Swinton character. In the few clips of her we were shown, this works. She
explains to Strange the idea of a multiverse, and how he can learn to master it
if he tries. She then pushes his spirit out of his body and into a glorious
five minutes of IMAX eye-candy. Truly the visuals we see in this segment are
beyond description. My jaw honestly dropped at the kaleidoscope of surrealist visual
insanity they were showing me. Clearly, this was the moment they wanted to
showcase in the preview, and I’m glad they did. While I was once rather skeptical
of the Doctor Strange movie, the effects and images they displayed in
these 15 minutes not only sold me on the movie, but sold me on seeing it in
full out IMAX. It is honestly incredible. Picture the ending of 2001:
A Space Odyssey crossed with Inception and a lava lamp and shown
in epic IMAX 3D. It’s intense. We then wrap up the trailer with action shots of
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character and Dr. Strange teaming up to battle Mads
Mikkelsen’s villain in a mind-melting, M.C. Escher-style New York as it
collapses in on itself.
Overall, I enjoyed the run through of the movie. I think the
plot and performances look fine. It would seem like standard Marvel fare if it
weren’t for that multiverse scene in the middle. The visual storytelling seems
to really be this movie’s strongest suit, and I cannot wait to see more of it!
Marvel Studios released this short video earlier today highlighting
some of the new footage from the IMAX preview.
Doctor Strange comes out on November 4th.
