Doctor Strange Said To Be Dark & Psychedelic

Not much is known about the Doctor Strange movie other than Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as the Sorcerer Supreme in addition to Tilda Swinton playing the Ancient One, with Scott Derrickson directing.

We do get a few tidbits from Ben Davis, the cinematographer on the film, from the BAFTA Masterclass in London.

Davis, who also was the cinematographer for Avengers 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy describes that Doctor Strange is set for a “dark” palette and “psychedelic grounding.”

“It has a very psychedelic grounding, and it’s not your typical Marvel action movie,” Davis stated, reports Screen Daily, before also mentioning that his initial reaction to the movie was that it could be “Marvel’s Fantasia.”

“Most of the work within it is about other dimensions,” Davis said. “And I described it, I think, when I was talking to Marvel as Marvel’s Fantasia, in a way, because it’s so sort of out there and different to everything else that they’ve done.”

Davis also compared the imagery to the film to art by M. E. Escher, who is known for his impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture, and tessellations.

“There’s a lot of previsualisation, and there’s a lot of work which is very hard – you look at it and you see the imagery that they’ve created for it and you think, ‘well how the hell do we shoot that!?’ because it’s all sort of Escher stuff. It’s all very out there. I can’t really say much more about it, I’m afraid. But I think it’ll be really interesting, and it’s a very dark movie, I’m pleased to say.

“Doctor Strange” has a November 4, 2016 release with Rachel McAdams in talks for the female lead, and Chiwetel Ejiofor is rumored to be playing Baron Mordo.