In the 2000s, before the MCU became the phenomenon we know, Guillermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman thought together about a cinematic adventure for Doctor Strange. A project in which the “Master of the mystical arts” would have crossed the decades incognito in New York, and where he would have begun to develop his powers and fight against his demons at the beginning of the 20th century.
Doctor Strange : an emblematic figure of the MCU
In 2016, after the general melee of Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange continues the opening of the third phase of the MCU. A first part in which the New York neurosurgeon Stephen Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, discovers the alternate dimensions as well as the powers he is able to develop with the help of the Elder (Tilda Swinton). The sorcerer then makes a brief passage through Thor :Ragnarok before playing a rather discreet but important role in Avengers : Infinity War and Avengers :Endgame.
The superhero occupies today a central place within the MCU since he discovered the multiverse (main element of phase 4) and its dangers alongside the spider-man in Spider-Man: No Way Homethen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where he faced the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Two feature films that were a hit at the box office, collecting respectively 1.9 billion and 955 million dollars in worldwide revenue.
Arrived after Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America, Doctor Strange has therefore established itself as one of the flagship characters of the Marvel universe and this should still be the case for a while, given the conclusion of the second opus which is dedicated to him. A cinematic destiny that could have been totally different for the protagonist, as stated by author Neil Gaiman in the podcast Happy, Sad, Confused.
Guillermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman’s project
While his series Sandman currently a hit on Netflix, the screenwriter returned to a film project around Stephen Strange. During the filming ofHellboy II: The Cursed Golden Legions, Neil Gaiman visits Guillermo del Toro. The two artists discuss the possibility of working together on a feature film centered on the wizardlong before the adaptations by Scott Derrickson and Sam Raimi.
The author ofAmerican Gods and Good Omens then submitted some ideas to Kevin Feige in 2007, a year before the release ofIron Man and The Incredible Hulk. At the time, “Doctor Strange was not on the agenda” for Marvel according to Neil Gaiman. He explains about the concept developed with Guillermo del Toro:
The thing we really wanted to do was live his adventures to the fullest, have him become an alcoholic and a disbarred doctor, that sort of thing.
Events that would be products “in the 1920s”. Neil Gaiman adds about this enticing concept:
The idea was for him to go through all these hardships and it molds him to be the greatest wizard in the world, maybe in the late 20s or early 30s. He’s lived in Greenwich Village for 90 years and looks the same but no one really notices. We liked this idea of a character out of time. But other than that, it would have been very close to Steve Ditko’s version because, you know, he’s the best!
Finally, Marvel prefers to devote itself to Thor and Captain America before giving a chance to Doctor Strange in dark rooms. This is not the only project of Guillermo del Toro with the firm to not have succeeded, since his Hulk series has also been shelved.
