Our first look at Marvel’s Doctor Strange has hit the Web! The two-minute teaser trailer for Marvel’s Doctor Strange premiered last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC, and today I want to recap and review the solid teaser that might not blow you away, but definitely does let you peep through the keyhole and into the mind-bending universe of Doctor Strange.
Description from Marvel.com:
When famous neurosurgeon Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) suffers career-ending injuries in a devastating car crash, he seeks help in the furthest reaches of the world! Hoping to find cures for his injuries, Strange instead uncovers the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions.
Before talking about what we see in the trailer, let’s go over what we hear in the trailer. I’ll try to guess who says what at certain points, but hopefully it helps you in understanding what is going on.
BARON MORDO (Chiwetel Ejiofor): “Stephen Strange, might I offer you some advice? Forget everything that you think you know.”
THE ANCIENT ONE (Tilda Swinton): “You’re a man looking at the world through a keyhole. You’ve spent your life trying to widen it. Your work saved the lives of thousands. What if I told you, that reality is one of many.”
STEPHEN STRANGE (Benedict Cumberbatch): “I don’t believe in fairy tales about chakras, or energy, or the power of belief.”
THE ANCIENT ONE (Tilda Swinton): “You wonder what I see in your future? Possibility.”
STEPHEN STRANGE (Benedict Cumberbatch): “Why are you doing this?”
THE ANCIENT ONE (Tilda Swinton): “There are other ways to save lives. So much you don’t know.”
STEPHEN STRANGE (Benedict Cumberbatch): “Teach me.”
So, the accident just happened. Strange is inside the car. The adventure of Doctor Strange begins in tragedy. I’m actually really happy that they showed this was an origin story in the trailer, so that people know what they’re getting into.
Not the most important shot of the trailer. This is just Stephen Strange being taken into hospital on a gurney by a male doctor who we don’t get to see, as well as Rachel McAdams (who we see on the picture). I don’t think we know the name of the character yet, but I presume that she’ll be the character that Strange blames for not having fixed his hands? Possibly. Maybe. Who knows? Or maybe she’s another version of the Night Nurse.
Here we see Stephen Strange recovering from his injuries. Now, the key things here are his hands. These are the career-ending injuries the description talked about. If you’re a surgeon, then you need your hands to work perfectly – and they just don’t anymore after the accident.
Now, I could’ve chosen another shot of Baron Mordo, but I wanted to see Mordo and Strange on-screen together. It is a little bit tough to see here, but I think this may be Mordo leading Strange to the Ancient One as it doesn’t look like Strange is in costume yet.
Okay, this was very cool. I’m guessing that he is being trained by the Ancient One here, but we definitely see the Ancient One separating Strange’s spirit from his body (we see his astral form).
Here we see Mads Mikkelsen’s character, who we don’t really know the name of yet. We’ll see what this is all about, but nevertheless a very cool shot as it shows off the power of the character.
This is going to be the shot of the trailer. Sure, this is very Inception, but I expect this film to go with even weirder and even more mind-bending shots. There’s not much to talk about here, ’cause we don’t really know what is happening yet, though.
The last shot sees Doctor Stephen Strange in costume in front of the giant oculus window (the Window of the Worlds) in what I presume is his Sanctum Sanctorum in Greenwich Village, New York City.
I think this is a really solid teaser trailer. Fans of the character or the comics will absolutely adore this trailer, like I do, but I’m not sure the general movie-going audience will be more than intrigued. It is mind-bending, but maybe not enough for it to truly stand out. I’ve already seen people summing up the film jokingly as Batman Begins meets Inception, which I don’t think does the film justice – Marvel’s Doctor Strange can be so much more than that.
But what did you think of the trailer? Sound off in the comments.
– I’m Jeffrey Rex
I'm Jeffrey Rex 
Hey, cool site you’ve got here. I found the trailer alright, but I’m pretty into comic book related media; for the mainstream audience, I’m not sure it had the same impact. White saviour/dude who finds enlightenment in Asia tropes aside, the barebones amount of dialogue doesn’t do it any justice, and whilst the visuals are certainly exciting, the trailer feels a lot less self-assured than other ‘out there’ films in the MCU like Guardians or Ant-Man because of the lack of said dialogue. For a film that’s meant to open up new worlds, and a potential franchise starter, this is a decent trailer, but not particularly good either, at least for mainstream audiences (in my opinion). If you want, you can see my own thoughts on the trailer at my own site =) (http://wp.me/p5UGMa-S4).
Will definitely be browsing around your site now. Keep up the good work =).
Thanks! I think you’re on to something here. In any case, this trailer seems to have just tested the waters, and the next trailers will most likely let the magic run wild.
I’ll check out your site!