fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3388 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3388 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Pokémon, John Lone]

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[Mass Effect/Dragon Age]

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[Fire Emblem]

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[Bleach]

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[Lord of the Rings]

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[The Aliens]

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(Stardew Valley)

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[Caitlyn Jenner]

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[Rupaul's Drag Race, Acid Betty]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 038 secrets from Secret Submission Post #484.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tilda Swinton is the strangest casting choice as an Asian kung-fu master since Joel Grey in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.

Other than that my opinions haven't changed. I'm still deeply ambivalent about Cumberbatch as a casting choice and I still really, really wish they weren't doing the origin story in this movie. I think the visuals were impressive but it doesn't really move the needle for me either way.

I do agree it's a strange casting choice! But she does look sort of otherworldly so...that might work?

I'm ambivalent about another origin story myself, but I can see why in this case. And Cumberbatch...willing to give him benefit of the doubt for now.

It's not just the fact that it's another origin story - I feel like Strange's origin story is particularly inessential and almost unrelated to the things that make Doctor Strange interesting as a character. What's interesting about him isn't watching him learn the lessons he needs to learn. What's interesting about him is that he's the rare superhero in the Marvel Universe who, basically, already gets it. Most of his most interesting stories take place after he's been enlightened and they're about him trying to move in the world and improve it and change it, and that's what's most interesting to me about the character (as well as the mysticism).

And Cumberbatch, similarly, I'm ambivalent about at least in part because I think his talents as an actor play into a version of Strange that really emphasizes his arrogance and other similar qualities.

Basically tl;dr I'm not that interested in a version of Doctor Strange that's "What If House, From The TV Show House, Was A Superhero"

That's fair. I agree I do not know the character that well. Marvel does seem to love it's origin stories (only Jessica Jones really avoided it so far).

But yeah, I get it. If you really like one part of a character and they choose to highlight another, that sucks.

They have to do the origin story for him. This isn't Spiderman or Batman and everyone* knows their origin story. No one knows who Strange is or what he is all about.

*Most people. I tested this theory with my coworkers. Everyone knew who Batman was except my boss (30 year old German who has been living in the US for 12 years). When he asked he said, "Was he bit by a bat or something?"

I don't really agree that it's necessary for Doctor Strange specifically, though. I think when you talk about audiences not knowing who a superhero is, there's basically two elements you're talking about.

First, audiences need to know a character's premise - their hook, their powers and abilities, the basic concept of how they operate at a high level - what they do. But in this instance, I feel like that's really easy to get across: Doctor Strange is a sorcerer. He does magic and casts spells. The flavor and details get more specific but on a very basic level, I think that's a really easy explanation and you don't need to do a lot to get it across.

Second, audiences need to understand the basic themes and influences that make the character and that shape the kinds of stories that are told about them. But this is where I think Strange differs a lot from most other Marvel heroes, because I don't think his origin is actually all that central to his character. With Iron Man - for instance - his origin story, his guilt for developing weapons and the ambiguities that career creates, the combination of playboy nature and responsibility, the fact that he's wounded and only saved from death by technology - those things are completely central to his character even going down the line. Similarly with Spiderman, you have this huge through-line of responsibility and family that runs through his storylines that you can argue it's important to get across. And those themes don't just exist in their storylines - they begin and are hugely present in their origins. The origins of those heroes really firmly establish who they are dramatically.

But with Doctor Strange, I just don't think that's true. The storylines with Strange are expertise and wisdom and figuring out what to do with the power at your disposal and how to deal with the responsibility and the power of being the Sorcerer Supreme. But all of those things come after the car crash. The car crash is what broke him down so he could be rebuilt. The hero is who he was after he was rebuilt.

I think you need to know that he was in a car crash and used to be an arrogant prick and became enlightened. I don't think those things are so hard to get across that you have to devote a whole movie to them. And devoting a movie to them - unlike Iron Man or Spiderman - doesn't actually fit in with the central themes of Doctor Strange and also, I think, isn't going to be a very good movie because it's not a very interesting plot.

So basically I think it's unnecessary and I worry that it's not going to be that good.

I don't think they are going to be devoting a whole movie to it? The impression I got from the trailer was the first 15-20 minutes would probably be the "origin story" with the crash and such while the rest would be devoted to him being rebuilt as he learns about all this sorcery and such.

You basically summed up all my feelings perfectly. I'm not really interested in another origin story; I'm interested in plot. Nothing about the trailer particularly grabbed me.

[ SECRET POST #3388 ]

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