More DOCTOR STRANGE Info About Baron Mordo and The Ancient One
After we experience Captain America: Civil War next summer, there will only be a few months left until we see the next movie in the MCU, Doctor Strange. Scott Derrickson's movie is going to be different than anything we've seen in the Marvel Studios films thus far: trippy, psychedelic, and "edge of horror-movie-dark."
EW has two more interviews that shed some more light on the movie. First up, they spoke with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about The Ancient One, the character being played by Tilda Swinton in the film:
“We’re never afraid to change,” says Doctor Strange producer and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. “In the comic books, Jarvis is an elderly butler. In the movies, he’s an A.I. system which becomes Paul Bettany’s Vision. We are always looking for ways to change. I think if you look at some of the early incarnations of the Ancient One in the comics, they are what we would consider today to be quite, sort of, stereotypical. They don’t hold up to what would work today. Also, within the storyline of the comics, and our movie, ‘the Ancient One’ is a title that many people have had. We hit very early on on, What if the Ancient One was a woman? What if the title had been passed and the current Ancient One is a woman? Oh, that’s an interesting idea. [Clicks fingers.] Tilda Swinton! Whoah! And it just hit.”
“Look, she’s a chameleon in everything she does. She has this amazing [ability to] harness of this androgynous sense. So, we use the term ‘her’ and ‘she’ in the film but, other than that, it’s very androgynous. Because it doesn’t matter.”
Swinton herself doesn't care whether she's playing a male or female version of the character, either, responding “I wouldn’t know how to answer that one. I think it’s all in the eye of the beholder.”
Elsewhere, Baron (Karl) Mordo, actor Chiwetel Ejiofor describes his character's relationship with both Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and The Ancient One:
“In terms of his life with the Ancient One, it’s this long and intense relationship they have that’s just very deep and very connected. I think they both recognize in Strange this certain quality that they feel is going to be very useful in a situation they’re in — just by the nature of who he is, and the way that he operates, and the way his mind works, and the certain skill set and personality that he has. So, when they all meet, they realize that he’s somebody that can be plugged into this very surreal, interesting, sort of fascinating circumstance that they’re all in, and the dangers that they face. And so it becomes a process of assimilating him into their ways of life.”
But is he going to eventually become a villain in the film?
“Oh, he’s a very complex character that, really, I don’t think can be nailed down either way, you know,” the actor demurs. “I guess it’s something to experience, is what I’d say.”
Doctor Strange arrives in theaters on November 4th, 2016.