Doctor Strange: Proving Marvel’s magic still works

While some say that Doctor Strange is sort of a gamble for Marvel, it seems that it paid off. Its current standing of 98% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes proves this achievement. Here are some interesting tidbits of the movie.

Warning: spoilers ahead. 

When people come to watch a superhero movie, many expect that the climactic face-off between the heroes and the villain (or villains) will feature fast moving characters, exchanging blows and explosions everywhere. Marvel's latest entry in the superhero genre, breaks the mold, albeit in a wonderful way. 

The clash between Doctor Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, and Kaecilius, portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen, was more of "shifting the world" than an explosive "blast off" among the sorcerers. This is also the case when the Sorcerer Supreme faces off the Dread Dormammu. Den of Geek points out that while everything was set for an epic magical battle, from the location to the massive villain, Strange won the battle without a single punch was thrown, whether literally or figuratively.

Which leads us to the next item: who played Dormammu? While the character was left uncredited, it turns out that Cumberbatch did the motion capture for the character, though another actor gave its voice. This spoiler was given by director Scott Derrickson himself, in his interview with IGN

 Another piece of the Infinity Gems makes its appearance on this film. As speculated, the Eye of Agamotto, an artifact that is a source of the Sorcerer Supreme's power, holds the Time Stone.  The Time Stone is one of the six Infinity Stones that have been scattered among the Marvel Cinematic Universe's movies, which would be important plot device for the upcoming third installment of the Avengers line, Infinity War.

Does it mean that Strange will be part of Infinity War? If the mid-credits scene would be an indication, that may be a yes. He does meet up with Thor, and even giving the "god of thunder" a seemingly bottomless flagon of beer.

The post-credits scene also gives a hint on what to expect in the sequel. As GamesRadar pointed, while a sequel has not been greenlit, the scene shows Baron Mordo, who plays as the Doctor's confidante on the film, disarming Benjamin Bratt's Jonathan Pangborn of his powers in a brutal fashion. Mordo does this while muttering the words "There's too many sorcerers."

Doctor Strange is surely a welcome addition to the superhero genre, and has indeed worked its powerful magic among its viewers.