Marvel's Phase One? A smashing, roaring justification of the risks taken on big money comic book films. Phase Two? A box office behemoth sucking up every available dollar and broadening the genre's horizons. Phase Three? Yet to be determined.
What we do know about Phase Three, however, is that it will kick off with next year's "Captain America: Civil War" and "Doctor Strange." Fans got their first glimpse at both films during Friday's D23 Expo.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige began with the latter, which he promised would be unlike anything before seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He confirmed long gestating rumors that Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton") and Chiwetel Ejiofor ("12 Years a Slave") are indeed joining star Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Imitation Game") as cast members.
Cumberbatch was unable to attend the event, but he did send a video message which guaranteed "Girls, cars, explosions and a bit of astral projection into multiple dimensions. The usual fare." Though director Scott Derrickson ("Deliver us From Evil") won't begin filming until November, Feige did unveil a reel of concept footage to provide fans with a point of reference for the film. Ominously, he said no one would ever see this footage again.
Here's a comprehensive breakdown of the imagery via io9.
"It started with images of New York City. Very much the world we know from The Avengers. Strange is the foremost neurosurgeon in the world, but he has a car accident that mangles his hands. His apartment and doctor's office are all very high tech. He then goes on a quest to look for healing. There are images of foreign lands, possible Chinese. It's there he meets The Ancient One, played by Swinton, who begins to help him...but it 'turns into much more.' We see images of all this, and it looks pretty sweeping and beautiful - but finally, the good stuff kicked in.
"We see Strange standing beneath a huge black ball, him falling into a new dimension. Then he's in what looks like space, very much in the mold of the colors of Guardians of the Galaxy. Back on Earth, we see cars floating in the air, streets twisting around like in Inception, Strange shooting yellow power out of his hands, and an image of his face in a sphere, almost like 2001. The reel ended with the only moving footage, of a CG Strange moving his hands to create the yellow power with his hands."
Pretty trippy, no?
Anyone complaining of super hero fatigue or anything of the like should be excited for "Doctor Strange" because it promises to be, at the very least, different and distinct from the MCU movies that have come before it. Given the studio's successful track record, that is pretty exciting.
"Doctor Strange" will hit theaters in November 2016.
