Written by Charlie Mihelich

Hot off this weeks Dr. Strange animated DVD release, Marvel is apparently shopping a live-action version of the comic to major Hollywood studios, according to IESB.net.

Strange, a lesser known member of the Marvel canon, is also known as “The Sorceror Supreme”.  While not a member of any of the major marvel franchises, Dr. Strange has occasionally been featured in Marvel crossover titles since the 1960s, in which the forces of good team up across comic book universes to battle the forces of evil.  Strange, because of his magical powers, is summoned whenever a mystical threat needs dealing with. 

The project is in the earliest stage of development.  No director, an unnamed writer and no projected star. 

The last two years have not been kind to the major Marvel franchises.  2006’s X-Men III and 2007’s Spiderman 3 were both lackluster outings.  After the success of X2, director Brian Singer left to direct the superior Superman Returns, while Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) was hired to replace him.  The result was a film that favored CGI, terrible one-liners, and a cast of irrelevant new characters to a coherent story, sympathetic plot lines, and strong performances.  Spider-Man 2, considered by many to be the greatest superhero movie of all time, begat a third film that replaced many of Spidey’s web-slinging sequences with languished dance sequences and not one, but two, vocal performances by Kirsten Dunst.  Additionally, 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was critically panned, favoring bad jokes, expensive special effects, and Jessica Alba to anything resembling decent filmmaking.

These films were all benefiting from the success of their pedigrees.  X2, Spider-Man 2, and Fantastic Four all had fantastic box office runs, and all three were practically guaranteed an audience based on namesake alone.  We all grew up with the X-Men, Spiderman, and the Fantastic Four, and the very mention of their names arises instant recognition.  But Dr. Strange? A relatively unknown name (except to legions of comic book collectors) would be a risky endeavor to languish a large production budget on.  Beyond that, his special powers are magic.  No acrobatics, no adimantium claws, he’s Harry Potter and Gandalf rolled into one, without the billions of dollars in book sales to back him up.

What I hope Marvel does is spend the majority of the budget on a good screenwriter, a good director, and a good cast.  And if those things come together, I'd imagine the good doctor would find an audience.