Will Marvel Ever Make a Doctor Strange Movie?
Posted 10.21.09 by Ryan
Marvel Entertainment President Kevin Feige has said that a Doctor Strange movie would "kick ass," while Stan Lee, who co-created the character in 1963, made a "promise" to MTV during San Diego Comic-Con that Doctor Strange would be one of Marvel's future projects. But how realistic is a Doctor Strange movie? So far, the character hasn't found much success in Hollywood adaptations. A TV pilot made in the 1970s failed to launch a regular series, while a 2007 animated movie debuted on DVD to mixed reviews.
Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada explained the character's limited appeal to a crowd at the Big Apple Comic-Con. Quesada said that, while Doctor Strange often appears in Marvel comics titles, Strange is "one of a small handful of characters that whenever you see them guest star, you go, Oh! Doctor Strange! I wish he had his own series.' Then we launch a series, and nobody buys it." The Doctor hasn't had his own monthly Marvel comic since 1996, and is constantly being reinvented by Marvel in hopes that fans will eventually support the character on a monthly basis.
With Marvel working on a full slate of movies, including Iron Man 2, Thor, and The First Avenger: Captain America, that are leading to an Avengers movie in 2012, projects like Doctor Strange and Ant-Man aren't a high priority for Marvel. But Lee believes they "just have to get to [Doctor Strange]," continuing that, "Every one of the characters — they're [Marvel] not going to let one go. Why should they?"
With Marvel finding huge success with the lesser-known character Iron Man, Doctor Strange definitely has a chance. But without enough of a fan base to support a comic book, there's a good reason why Ant-Man already has a script from Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright while Doctor Strange still has nothing.