Paramount has a distribution deal with Marvel Studios through at least The Avengers (I’m not 100% sure if it includes Iron Man 3 or not), so many people have been wondering what would come for the superhero studio once they began marketing their films through new parent Disney. The answer (possibly): Dr. Strange.
Dr. Strange has always been a favorite of Marvel Studios honcho Kevin Feige, and he’s definitely in keeping with Feige’s stated interests in expanding the Marvel Movieverse beyond obvious superhero franchises. Dr. Strange is the master of the mystic arts, a Soho-dwelling doctor turned mystic who also happens to be Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. He’s had a spotty comic history – often beloved, especially by creators, and important in the formation of the 1960s psychedelic movement (seriously), Strange has never quite found the popularity to keep his series steadily afloat.
This all comes from a Deadline Hollywood scoop that Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have been hired to write a script for Strange. These two wrote the upcoming Conan movie (that script is terrible) and have written a script based on Drake’s Fortune and they pitched in on a draft of Cowboys and Aliens. I’m sure they’re nice guys and all, but if Marvel’s going to be doing Dr. Strange, where’s Guillermo Del Toro, who loves the character and who – hey! – is available?
Side thought: if The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a hit, Disney could find themselves putting out two different modern day wizard franchises. Is there enough of a market for that concept to allow the studio to put one such movie out a year?