Kevin Feige Says DOCTOR STRANGE Will Include The Dark Dimension
In the most recent issue of Empire Magazine, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige talked about meeting Benedict Cumberbatch for the first time a few years ago to discuss Doctor Strange. He also talked about the movie being different from anything Marvel has made so far, and he confirmed that the movie will feature the Dark Dimension!
When talking about meeting Cumberbatch for the first time to discuss the project, Feige recalled:
“After [Benedict] left, [executive producer] Stephen Broussard and I looked at each other and said, ‘I think Doctor Strange was just here.’”
Explaining what made the Cumberbatch perfect for the role of Dr. Stephen Strange, Feige saidd that the character is “an arrogant neurosurgeon in Manhattan, living a very opulent lifestyle. He gets into a horrible car accident and his hands, the tools by which he can do amazing surgeries, are mangled and destroyed. That starts his downward path, and that's why Benedict is such a great choice - you can go to the highest heights and lowest lows with him and he won't lose you.”
As we've seen in the photos that have been released, Cumberbatch looks freakin' great as the Sorcerer Supreme! I'm sure the guy will give a great performance as well because he's an amazing actor.
Feige went on to say that Doctor Strange “couldn't be any more different than any of the films that have come before it. He explains that "there are more things that lurk in shadows in this movie, perhaps, than our other movies.” He's obviously referring to the interdimensional beings that Doctor Strange will be protecting humanity from.
The producer then went on to confirm that the Dark Dimension will be included in the film saying:
“We see glimpses of something called the Dark Dimension. But if you were to open a Doctor Strange comic drawn by Steve Ditko, you would see the Dark Dimension is, in fact, very colorful in an extremely psychedelic way. Those are the things we're not shying away from.”
I love it when they mention that Steve Ditko and his comic are a heavy inspiration for this film! The fact that The Dark Dimension will be a part of the story might give us a hint of who Mads Mikkelsen and Amy Landecker could be playing. The Dark Dimension is where the villains Dormammu and Umar reside. They are siblings who were banished to the Dark Dimension in the comics. Those characters could be played by Mikkelsen and Landecker, if they decided to go that route. However, after Feige gave the following description of Mikkelsen's character:
“Mads’ character is a sorcerer who breaks off into his own sect. [He] believes that the Ancient One is just protecting her own power base and that the world may be better off if we were to allow some of these other things through...”
one of our readers suggested that perhaps Mikkelsen's character "is the precursor to what eventually becomes Dormammu," which is a theory that I can get behind. After all, Feige says we will only see glimpses of the Dark Dimension. Those glimpses could come at the end of the film, and that character arc could continue in the sequel.
Of course, there are several other mystical characters tied to the Dark Dimension, so we'll just have to wait and see how this story plays out. What are some of your theories and thoughts on all of this? The movie hits theaters on November 4th, 2015.