97 Fun Facts About Doctor Strange Movies

Who plays Dr. Stephen Strange?

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Stephen Strange; his 2015 stage run as Hamlet clashed with the shoot, so Marvel moved the release from summer to November 2016 to get him.

What is Stephen Strange's profession before the accident?

Strange is a brilliant, arrogant neurosurgeon whose hands are shattered in a car crash, ending his surgical career and driving him to seek a cure.

Who directed Doctor Strange (2016)?

Scott Derrickson, who made the horror film Sinister, won the job with a 90-minute pitch he paid for himself, including his own script for an astral-plane fight scene.

Who plays the Ancient One?

Tilda Swinton plays the Ancient One, reimagined as a Celtic woman; the character is a Tibetan man in the comics, and co-writer C. Robert Cargill called adapting him faithfully an unwinnable Kobayashi Maru.

Who plays the villain Kaecilius?

Mads Mikkelsen, Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, plays Kaecilius, a former Kamar-Taj student who steals pages from the Ancient One's book in search of eternal life.

Which paraplegic who regained the use of his legs points Strange toward Kamar-Taj?

Jonathan Pangborn, played by Benjamin Bratt, learned sorcery at Kamar-Taj but turned down a sorcerer's duties, choosing to pour all his magic into walking again.

In which city is Kamar-Taj located?

Kamar-Taj is in Kathmandu, Nepal, where the crew shot on location in November 2015, months after the April earthquake; the comics had placed it in Tibet.

Earth's magical shield is generated by three Sanctums in New York and which two other cities?

The Sanctums are in New York, London and Hong Kong; Kaecilius destroys the London Sanctum first, then attacks the New York one that Strange ends up defending.

What relic does Strange secretly learn to bend time with?

The Eye of Agamotto, which Strange uses to rewind a half-eaten apple, turns out to house the Time Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones.

Which entity, from a realm where time does not exist, does Kaecilius contact?

Dormammu, ruler of a timeless realm, is the being Kaecilius serves; the actor playing Strange also supplied the character's motion capture and part of his voice.

What does Strange trap the first film's cosmic big bad in to force a bargain?

An endless time loop lets Strange die over and over until the trapped entity agrees to leave Earth and take Kaecilius's zealots with him.

What has the Ancient One secretly been drawing power from to prolong her life?

The Ancient One has secretly drawn power from the Dark Dimension for centuries, breaking the rules she teaches; Kaecilius exposes that hypocrisy to Strange to justify his own rebellion.

What does Mordo declare in the post-credits scene of Doctor Strange (2016)?

Earth has too many sorcerers, Mordo declares while stealing another sorcerer's magic; unlike his comics counterpart, Chiwetel Ejiofor's Mordo was deliberately not introduced as a villain.

Which Asgardian appears in the mid-credits scene of Doctor Strange?

Thor appears in the mid-credits scene, drinking an ever-refilling beer in the New York Sanctum while Strange agrees to help him find Odin; Thor: Ragnarok replays the scene.

Rachel McAdams's character, Christine Palmer, comes from which 1972 Marvel comic?

Night Nurse followed three roommates at a New York hospital, Palmer among them; the film picked her over a more fantastical love interest to keep Strange tied to the ordinary world.

Which relic chooses Strange as its master?

The Cloak of Levitation was treated as a character: Marvel hired the studio that animated Rocket Raccoon, which played it like a wild horse slowly learning to trust its rider.

Which mobile puzzle game did the makers of Doctor Strange (2016) study for its Escher-style folding cityscapes?

The director wanted a chase inside an Escher world, so he handed his effects chief fractal videos from YouTube and the team studied Monument Valley, a phone puzzle built on impossible architecture.

Who composed the score for Doctor Strange (2016)?

Michael Giacchino recorded the score at Abbey Road Studios, where Paul McCartney dropped in on a session and told him one cue had shades of I Am the Walrus.

Which Spider-Man co-creator drew the 1960s comics whose trippy art shaped the look of Doctor Strange (2016)?

Steve Ditko's swirling dimensions made the comic a favourite of 1960s college students, yet Ditko himself followed Ayn Rand and had his Peter Parker show contempt for student protesters.

Where did Doctor Strange hold its world premiere in October 2016?

Hong Kong hosted the world premiere on 13 October 2016, three weeks before the US release; the film's final battle, fought while time runs backwards, is set on its streets.

Doctor Strange (2016) earned an Academy Award nomination in which category?

Best Visual Effects was the film's only Oscar nomination, earned by set pieces such as a folding Manhattan and a street battle fought while time runs backwards; The Jungle Book won.

What is Stan Lee reading on the bus in his Doctor Strange cameo?

The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley's 1954 account of a mescaline trip, is the book Stan Lee laughs over on the bus, a nod to the film's psychedelic imagery.

Who directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?

Sam Raimi, who had not directed a feature since Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), took over in February 2020 after the first film's director left over creative differences.

Wanda crosses the multiverse to reach which twin sons?

Billy and Tommy vanished with the spell that created them, so Wanda hunts America Chavez for the power to reach a universe where the boys are real.

Who plays America Chavez?

Xochitl Gomez, previously seen in Netflix's The Baby-Sitters Club, plays America Chavez, a teenager from the Utopian Parallel who punches star-shaped portals between universes.

What is the name of the corrupting spellbook Wanda uses?

The Darkhold, the Book of the Damned, corrupts Wanda after she takes it from Agatha Harkness; its light counterpart, the Book of Vishanti, is what Strange and Chavez seek.

What is the term for using the corrupting spellbook to possess your counterpart in another universe?

Dreamwalking is the forbidden spell that lets a sorcerer possess their counterpart in another universe; Strange dreamwalks into his own corpse at the climax and later sprouts a third eye.

Which mountain is the source of the corrupting spellbook's power?

Mount Wundagore is where the book's spells were first carved into the walls; Wanda collapses the mountain at the end, destroying every copy of the book across the multiverse.

Which sorcerer serves as Earth-838's Sorcerer Supreme and hands Strange to the Illuminati?

Karl Mordo walked away from the sorcerers in the first film, but this universe's version, again played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, leads them and sits on the Illuminati himself.

Who plays Professor Charles Xavier in the Illuminati?

Patrick Stewart reprises Charles Xavier, blending his Fox-era Professor X with the 1990s X-Men animated series, complete with its yellow hover-chair and theme music.

Which Illuminati member does Anson Mount play in Multiverse of Madness?

Black Bolt, king of the Inhumans, is played by Anson Mount, reprising his role from the 2017 ABC series; Wanda removes his mouth so his own voice destroys his skull.

Who plays Maria Rambeau, the Illuminati's Captain Marvel, in Multiverse of Madness?

Lashana Lynch plays Maria Rambeau, who in the Illuminati's universe became Captain Marvel instead of Carol Danvers; Lynch reprises her Captain Marvel (2019) role and is killed by Wanda during the massacre.

Why did the Illuminati execute their own Doctor Strange?

He destroyed another universe while using forbidden magic to beat Thanos; the Illuminati executed him, then raised a statue and told the public he died a hero.

Who plays the Pizza Poppa street vendor, a cameo by one of the director's oldest collaborators?

Bruce Campbell, star of the Evil Dead films and a friend of the director since high school, plays Pizza Poppa; the post-credits scene shows Strange's spell on him finally wearing off.

Which actress appears as Clea in the mid-credits scene?

Charlize Theron appears as Clea, Strange's long-time love interest in the comics, in the mid-credits scene, warning him that he has caused an incursion and leading him through a portal.

What is the name of the ponytailed Strange variant killed in the opening scene?

Defender Strange starts the film shielding America Chavez from a demon, then tries to take her power for himself and is killed; the main Strange later possesses his corpse.

Who composed the score for Multiverse of Madness?

Danny Elfman fell out with the director while scoring Spider-Man 2 and skipped the third film; the pair made peace on Oz the Great and Powerful, then reunited for this sequel.

Which Disney+ series did Michael Waldron run before writing the sequel, laying its multiverse groundwork?

Michael Waldron was head writer of Loki's first season, which introduced the Time Variance Authority and shattered the Sacred Timeline, before writing the Doctor Strange sequel.

Which film dethroned Multiverse of Madness as 2022's biggest earner?

Strange passed The Batman as North America's biggest film of 2022 over Memorial Day weekend; Top Gun: Maverick opened that same weekend, and by late June had overtaken it there and worldwide.

Multiverse of Madness beat which earlier film to give its director his biggest opening weekend?

Spider-Man 3 opened to $151 million in 2007, but the backlash left its director unsure he could face another superhero film; fifteen years on, his comeback opened to $187 million.

Why did Multiverse of Madness go unreleased in Saudi Arabia?

Disney refused to cut LGBTQ dialogue, barely 12 seconds in which America Chavez mentions her two mothers; Saudi censors said they had asked for the edit rather than banning the film.

What do Strange and his corrupted double hurl at each other in their duel?

Musical notes peel off sheet music as weapons, and the volleys play real pieces: Beethoven's Fifth Symphony against Bach's Toccata and Fugue.

Who plays Reed Richards among the Illuminati in Multiverse of Madness?

John Krasinski plays Reed Richards, the Illuminati's Mister Fantastic, fulfilling a long-running fan casting; Wanda shreds him into ribbons during the Illuminati massacre.

Which broken gift from Christine Palmer does Strange finally repair in the sequel?

A wristwatch from Christine is what muggers try to take from Strange in the first film; at the end of the sequel he finally repairs it and puts it away, a sign he has let her go.

Which carmaker built the supercar Strange crashes in Doctor Strange (2016)?

Lamborghini lent the production six Huracáns for the crash that ends Strange's surgical career, and the crew wrecked one of them for real.

Which Kamar-Taj master, missing a hand, demonstrates that sorcery does not depend on hands?

Master Hamir is the man Strange first mistakes for the Ancient One; later he conjures a spell with the stump of his missing left hand to show Strange that shaking hands are no excuse.

Which TV comedy creator wrote uncredited material for Doctor Strange's 2016 reshoots?

Dan Harmon, creator of Community and co-creator of Rick and Morty, wrote pages for the reshoots; Kevin Feige said Marvel wanted his opinion on the film's sci-fi concepts as much as his jokes.

Which actress plays the Scarlet Witch, the Avenger turned villain in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?

Elizabeth Olsen was hesitant to play the villain, having assumed she would simply be part of an ensemble.

What does Stephen Strange grow in his forehead in the final scene of Multiverse of Madness, after using forbidden magic?

A third eye opens as the bill for possessing a corpse; the writers added the twist because their first ending felt overly happy.

The folding-Manhattan chase in Doctor Strange (2016) tried to outdo the effects of which Christopher Nolan film?

Inception was the benchmark: the director wanted to push its city-bending trick much further into the surreal, and admitted he owed that film something.

In Avengers: Infinity War, Stephen Strange views millions of possible futures and finds how many where Thanos loses?

One was all he found, which explains why he later gives Thanos exactly what the villain came for.

Which teenage hero asks Stephen Strange for a spell to make the world forget a secret identity, breaking the multiverse?

Peter Parker keeps changing the terms while the spell is being cast, and the botched magic pulls in visitors from other realities.

On which fruit does Stephen Strange secretly test a time-bending spell in the library in Doctor Strange (2016)?

An apple is his test subject, and the experiment earns him a stern warning about breaking the laws of nature.

Which band's Interstellar Overdrive plays in Doctor Strange (2016), after the director failed to place a Bob Dylan song?

Pink Floyd's psychedelic instrumental made it in, but using it again over the end credits proved more than the budget allowed.

Drones of which villain, voiced by Ross Marquand, appear in the Illuminati's world in Multiverse of Madness?

Ultron tried to wipe out humanity in the main timeline, so seeing his drones working for the heroes is a jolt for fans.

The score for Doctor Strange (2016) was recorded at which famous studio, where Paul McCartney overheard one of the cues?

Abbey Road Studios hosted the sessions, and McCartney likened what he heard to the Beatles song I Am the Walrus.

Which Infinity Stone does Stephen Strange surrender to Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War to save Tony Stark's life?

The Time Stone had been housed in the amulet around his neck ever since his first film.

Which former Kamar-Taj librarian holds the title of Sorcerer Supreme in Multiverse of Madness, to Strange's annoyance?

Wong inherited the post by default during the five years Strange was gone, and kept it after his friend returned.

Which actor ended talks to play Stephen Strange, feeling that blockbuster roles would never be fulfilling?

Joaquin Phoenix walked away in 2014, and the studio then moved the film's production schedule to land the actor it had wanted all along.

Which James Bond actor gave up an Illuminati cameo in Multiverse of Madness for fear of catching COVID-19?

Daniel Craig decided a single day of filming was not worth the risk to his family; he was reportedly set to play Balder the Brave.

Which actress plays Captain Carter in Multiverse of Madness, having first voiced the super-soldier in animation?

Hayley Atwell later called the character's swift death a disservice, and said her suggestions on set were dismissed.

Which 12 Years a Slave star plays the Kamar-Taj mentor who walks away from sorcery in Doctor Strange (2016)?

Chiwetel Ejiofor's casting reshaped the part: after talks with him, the character was no longer introduced as a villain, as he is in the comics.

Stan Lee's bus cameo in Doctor Strange (2016) was shot by which other Marvel director on a different set?

James Gunn shot several of Lee's cameos in one go on the set of his Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, to spare him the travel.

Doctor Strange (2016) was the first film released on more than 1,000 screens of which premium cinema format?

IMAX gave the film the widest release it had ever mounted, and more than an hour of footage was specially formatted for it.

Which actress declined to play Christine Palmer in Doctor Strange (2016), wanting her one Marvel role to be a lead?

Jessica Chastain reasoned that she would only get one shot at a Marvel film, and she wanted to spend it on a lead character.

Which horror director signed in 1992 to write and direct a Doctor Strange film that was never made?

Wes Craven's version was pencilled in for 1994 or 1995, one of many false starts before Marvel made the film itself.

Which director pitched Marvel a Doctor Strange film in 2007, with Neil Gaiman writing the script?

Guillermo del Toro imagined the hero as a disbarred, alcoholic physician who had lived in Greenwich Village for 90 years without ageing.

Doctor Strange (2016) was the 14th Marvel Cinematic Universe film, placing it in which of Marvel's numbered Phases?

The third Phase was its home, and Marvel's president called the film the doorway into the supernatural side of that universe.

A scrapped prologue for Doctor Strange (2016) took place at which real particle-physics laboratory?

CERN was chosen because of its real research into parallel universes, but the opening was dropped from the finished film.

At which Greenwich Village address does Stephen Strange's New York Sanctum stand, just as it does in the comics?

Bleecker Street was confirmed by Marvel's president in 2015, keeping the Sanctum Sanctorum exactly where readers had always found it.

The Ancient One, a Tibetan man in the comics, was reimagined for Doctor Strange (2016) as a mystic of which heritage?

Celtic was the choice after a co-writer argued the comics' Tibetan guru would feed a stereotype and drag the film into the politics of Tibet.

In Doctor Strange (2016), the Ancient One shoves Strange's spirit out of his body into which ghostly realm?

The astral plane later hosts a ghostly hospital fight, built from a 12-page scene the director wrote to win the job.

Which volume, the opposite of Wanda's corrupting spellbook, do Strange and America Chavez seek in Multiverse of Madness?

The Book of Vishanti is finally found in the space between universes, only for Wanda to destroy it moments later.

Which tentacled demon, renamed over a rights issue, does Strange fight to save America Chavez in Multiverse of Madness?

Gargantos is the comics' Shuma-Gorath in all but name; another company owns that name, so Marvel borrowed one from a different character.

What does Multiverse of Madness call the catastrophe Strange is warned, in its mid-credits scene, that he has triggered?

An incursion is serious enough that the woman who delivers the warning takes him with her at once to help repair it.

Which part of Stephen Strange's body is ruined in the car crash that ends his first career in Doctor Strange (2016)?

His hands are so badly damaged that he spends his fortune on experimental treatments before turning to magic.

Wanda Maximoff's accent in Multiverse of Madness was made truer to her origins in which fictional Marvel country?

Sokovia is her homeland, and her accent had drifted toward American in earlier appearances before being restored here.

Multiverse of Madness overtook which film to become, for a while, the top-grossing US release of 2022?

The Batman held the lead until the sequel's fourth weekend in cinemas, despite one of Marvel's steepest second-weekend drops.

Which star, once in contention to play Iron Man, was wrongly rumoured to cameo in Multiverse of Madness?

Tom Cruise was never even approached: the writer liked the idea, but the star was busy shooting two Mission: Impossible films.

A newspaper box for The Epoch Times in a Multiverse of Madness trailer put which country's release in doubt?

China was the market at stake, because that paper opposes its ruling party; the studio's chief later noted the film had succeeded without it.

Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron drew on his earlier work for which animated sci-fi comedy?

Rick and Morty taught him to slip big science-fiction ideas past an audience without bogging them down in boring detail.

The Illuminati's slaughter in Multiverse of Madness was modelled on the doomed soldiers of which 1980s sci-fi film?

Aliens makes its monsters scarier by wiping out tough soldiers early, and the writer wanted Wanda to do the same to fan-favourite heroes.

The cinematographer of Doctor Strange (2016) called it Marvel's version of which psychedelic 1940 animated classic?

Fantasia was Ben Davis's comparison, and he needed heavy previsualization to work out how to shoot the film's Escher-like imagery.

Which child of Thanos captures Stephen Strange in Avengers: Infinity War and tortures him aboard a spaceship?

Ebony Maw cannot simply take what he came for, because an enchantment protects it, so he tries to break its keeper instead.

Which comics Illuminati member was kept out of Multiverse of Madness so he could debut in Wakanda Forever?

Namor was off-limits at director Ryan Coogler's request, so the sea king's first screen appearance could be saved for his film.

The first Doctor Strange director quit Multiverse of Madness and instead made which horror film starring Ethan Hawke?

The Black Phone gave him somewhere to go at once, which he said eased a hard decision; he stayed on the sequel as an executive producer.

The Illuminati massacre in Multiverse of Madness was shot at which famous institution, with a room added digitally?

The British Museum stood in for the heroes' headquarters, with a glass entrance and a few statues added by computer.

Which rival of Stephen Strange, played by Michael Stuhlbarg, appears in Doctor Strange (2016) and Multiverse of Madness?

Nicodemus West is the fellow surgeon Strange looks down on in the first film, and he turns up at a church wedding in the sequel.

Which villain did the director first want for Doctor Strange (2016), until his realm seemed too hard to explain?

Nightmare rules a realm of dreams, and Marvel's president felt that was one idea more than an origin story could carry.

Which legendary sorceress is the villain of the 1978 TV movie Dr. Strange, sent to defeat a great wizard?

Morgan le Fay is given three days by a demon to beat the wizard and win his successor to their side, in a pilot that never became a series.

Stan Lee blamed the poor ratings of the 1978 TV movie Dr. Strange on its airing opposite which landmark miniseries?

Roots was the competition, Lee said, adding that this was the 1970s Marvel adaptation on which he had the most input.

A 1989 Doctor Strange script co-written by Stan Lee staged its final battle in which remote Pacific location?

Easter Island was to host the showdown, but a merchandising dispute between Marvel and the would-be distributor sank the project.

Which minotaur-like student at Kamar-Taj, voiced by Adam Hugill, appears in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?

Rintrah hails from a place called R'Vaal, which explains why one Kamar-Taj pupil has the head of a bull.

Animators recoloured which classic fairy-tale feature so an alternate version could play in Multiverse of Madness?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was remade with a different colour palette by the original studio's own animators for the scene.

Which Avenger was in the first-draft Illuminati of Multiverse of Madness, only to be dropped before filming?

The Wasp was in the writer's first draft, where Wanda would have crushed the shrunken hero with a single clap.

On which ruined planet, the homeworld of Thanos, does Stephen Strange study the future in Avengers: Infinity War?

Titan is where he scans what lies ahead, then joins a fight that comes close to stripping Thanos of his gauntlet.

Which US network aired the 1978 TV movie Dr. Strange as a pilot, then declined to order a series?

CBS was already airing The Incredible Hulk, but low ratings meant this Marvel hero never got a weekly show.