Marvel Mondays: Dr. Strange and Thor: Ragnarok

Hello again, and welcome to "Marvel Mondays!" So we are less than 3 weeks away from Avengers: Infinity War!! This past week the hype has been turned up a couple of notches for the movies as we've gotten new character posters, new television spots, a huge new trailer-ish spot, and the press tour for the movie has begun! I'm not sure about you all, but the anticipation for this movie is killing me!! Thankfully we don't have to wait too much longer. As for today's edition of the blog, I'm going to be covering two films in Phase 3 of the MCU: Dr. Strange and Thor: Ragnarok. So, let's begin with Dr. Strange!

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Before we begin, here's the schedule for upcoming posts. As you can see, I've made the necessary adjustments for the new Infinity War release date.



April 16th- Captain America: Civil War (exception 2; I'll also explain why in the post)
April 23rd- Spider Man: Homecoming and Black Panther
April 26th- Infinity War Preview, Predictions, and MCU Review
April 30th- Avengers: Infinity War

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Dr Strange is the 14th film in the MCU, falling under the Phase 3 umbrella, and is really the first MCU film to dive headfirst into the magical part of Marvel. The film tells the story of neurosurgeon Stephen Strange and his quest to find importance in his life after a career ending car accident; however, what he finds is a mystical world that has been right in front of his eyes the whole time as he becomes the Sorcerer Supreme. Starring the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch (Stephen Strange), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Karl Mordo), Benedict Wong (Wong), Mads Mikkelsen (Kaecillius), and Tilda Swinton (The Ancient One), Dr Strange brought in a respectable $677 million during it's box office run. It is also one of the only MCU movies to appear on Netflix and is still there to be able to watch. In Dr Strange, we are introduced to another Infinity Stone: the Time Stone located in the Eye of Agamotto and the necklace Strange wears. While there have been no confirmations on Dr Strange sequel, this past week there was an article going around saying the villain for the unconfirmed sequel would be Nightmare. 

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Development on this film is similar to other MCU films in the fact that it was years upon years in the making. The film was originally listed under New World Pictures in 1986 under Bob Gale; however, production never even started on the film. In 1989, Alex Cox and Stan Lee had a script written for a Dr Strange film, but no production studios were willing to take the risk on the film. Through the years, the rights to Dr Strange were passed from studio to studio until an announcement came in 2009 by Marvel CEO Kevin Feige saying Marvel would hire writers to build up it's lesser known properties, specifically citing Dr Strange. Shortly after, Patrick Dempsey was rumored to be attached to the film as Stephen Strange. Scott Derrickson was chosen to direct the film, envisioning Benedict Cumberbatch to play the title character. However, Marvel Studios was considering Tom Hardy, Jared Leto, and possibly Edgar Ramirez. But Derrickson won in the end as Marvel announced in 2014 that Cumberbatch would indeed play Strange; however, after seeing the schedule and his own schedule, Cumberbatch was forced to decline. Feige then went in full search mode as he courted the likes of Joaquin Phoenix, Jared Leto, Ethan Hawke, Oscar Isaac, Ewan McGregor, Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell, Jake Gyllenhaal, Keanu Reeves, and Ryan Gosling to play the role. Phoenix emerged as the front runner but ultimately talks cut off between the two. However, in October 2014, Cumberbatch and Marvel announced that he would indeed play Dr Strange as the production company ended up changing their filming schedule for Cumberbatch's hectic schedule. The rest of the cast was cast pretty easily and without issues, making the filming go smoothly and without trouble.

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Now, let's talk some easter eggs! During the opening scenes of the New York skyline, you can clearly see that Avengers Tower still stands at this moment in the MCU. While Strange is driving to a speaking event, he takes a call from a Nurse Billy regarding potential surgeries including "a 35 year old Air Force colonel who crushed his spine in a suit of experimental armor"...I'm going to throw a guess out here that the colonel's name is James Rhodes, just a guess though ;). Now, we see that huge library in the Sanctum Santorum, but in the Infinity War Prelude comic (which I suggest you all cliff-note before seeing the film), you can see Wong and Strange going through the library looking for information on the Infinity Stones (more information on this to come in the Infinity War preview post). 

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Both post credits scenes here are pretty important going forward in the MCU. First, let's talk about that last scene with Karl Mordo and Benjamin Bratt's character. After the Dormammu fight scene, it's clear to see that Mordo is just about fed up with all the sorcerers and looks to be out to figure things out on his own. Now, my opinion here was that he was going to be the next villain in Dr Strange 2, but with the Nightmare announcement, I now think we could see Karl Mordo maybe make a brief appearance in Infinity War. The other post credit scene is actually in Thor: Ragnarok as we see the God of Thunder arrive at the Sanctum Santorum seeking advice regarding his brother, Loki. As we all know, this isn't the only time Thor and Strange will interact with each other, as it has been rumored that the two will reunite in Infinity War on Wakanda. 

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Speaking of Thor, let's talk about Thor: Ragnarok, a film that I'm just going to call Ragnarok.

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Ragnarok is the 17th film in the MCU, also falling under the Phase 3, and is the third Thor film featuring as many different directors. This installment is what many people, including myself, to be the best as it was directed by the talented Taika Waititi. The film brings back the likes of Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Idris Elba (Heimdall) and Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) as it tells the story of Thor and his attempts to prevent Ragnarok on Asgard. The film is loved by many for it's humor, soundtrack, and the introduction of new characters, which brings no surprise why Ragnarok is the highest grossing film in the Thor trilogy bringing in $854 million during it's box office run. What importance does this have towards the MCU? Besides HEAVILY developing the Hulk, Loki, and Thor's characters, it also holds one of the most important post credits scenes regarding Infinity War in the entire MCU.

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Shortly after Thor: The Dark World released, Chris Hemsworth said he would play Thor as long as people wanted him to do it. That quote turned into Kevin Feige saying there would be a 3rd Thor movie that would play off the events that happened at the end of Thor: The Dark World. Before production began, Feige stated that Thor: The Dark World director, Alan Taylor would not be directing Thor 3; instead the honors would be given to Taika Waititi who was suggested to Feige by James Gunn. In April 2016, Tessa Thompson was cast as Valkyrie, a runaway Asgardian who now is a bounty hunter type character. It was also announced that Natalie Portman would not return as Jane Foster as Kevin Feige stated that no Earth characters would need to be in the film as the film would mainly take place in the Cosmos. More importantly, Feige said that Foster and Thor have broken up in between the end of Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok. In May 2016, Marvel announced the casting of Cate Blanchett as Hela, along with Jeffrey Goldblum as The Grandmaster. The post credit scene of Dr Strange where Strange meets Thor, was actually filmed and written by Waititi and used in Dr Strange at the request of the movie's director, Scott Derrickson. The decision of Hela to destroy Mjolnir was made by Waititi, even though Marvel suggested not to, because Waititi, James Gunn, and the Russo brothers had been collaborating on a scene in Infinity War where Thor gets a new, more powerful weapon called Stormbreaker.

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Now, lets talk some easter eggs! In the scene where the people are portraying what happened in Thor: The Dark World, the guy who played Thor is actually Chris Hemsworth's real life brother, Luke Hemsworth, and the guy who played Loki was none other than Matt Damon! When Loki and Thor first meet their formerly banished step sister, Hela, she gives them one command: Kneel. Which in turn is the same command Loki gives the citizens of Germany in The Avengers! As Hela is cleaning out Odin's famous vault, we see the Infinity Gauntlet from the first Thor film. However, Hela assures what we already knew when she knocks it over and calls it a fake. While meeting The Grandmaster, Thor tells him Loki is his brother, as Loki had been there for weeks building relationships. However, Loki in turn replies they're adopted, which might sound familiar from The Avengers when Thor is asked if Loki is his brother and he responds that they're adopted. We also finally meet Korg, a Kronan, the same species that was seen in Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2. Now, if you're watching Ragnarok and Thor tries to calm Hulk down and the person next to you begins laughing and you don't know why, it's because you haven't seen Age of Ultron and don't know that's a special bond between Natasha and Hulk. When Valkyrie asks how long it'll take to get to Asgard, she suggest they stop for fuel on Xandar, you know, the home planet of the Nova Corps in Guardians of the Galaxy!

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The post credit scene here is monumental for Infinity War, especially when one takes into consideration of all the clips shown from the trailers. So, Thor has just been crowned King of Asgard, even though Asgard is just a bunch of people on a ship, and he and Loki decide they will visit Earth after a two year hiatus. As they're looking out to space, we see the look of horror come upon their face as this huge ship appears to dwarf their carrier ship. The ship belongs to none other than Thanos, as Kevin Feige confirmed. After seeing the footage from Infinity War promo material, it's a safe bet to make that Thanos lays waste to pretty much everyone on that ship, including Heimdall, Valkyrie, Korg, and potentially Loki. My bet is that Hulk and Thor are the only ones who escape Thanos' attack and that's because he allows it. It's also safe to assume Thanos was drawn to the ship because Loki stole the Tesseract from Asgard. But there will be plenty more speculation about this scene in the Infinity War preview post.

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All in all, these are two very different MCU films, but two pretty good MCU films. Both making a very meaningful contribution to the MCU. While I'm not the biggest Dr Strange fan, it's easy to see why people appreciate the movie and what it brings to the MCU. Ragnarok, on the other hand, is pretty much universally loved by everyone. It gives a big Guardians vibe with the Thor characters, and I think, really sets the table perfectly for Infinity War.

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Overall, I have Dr Strange at number 18 on my MCU list, which is last. Personally speaking, I really didn't like Strange's character and thought the high point of the film was Wong. The villain really did nothing for me, and if I'm being honest, I fell asleep the first time I watched it. That's not to bash on Dr Strange as a character though because I think all of the things I didn't like about his movie, will be made up for by his character's work in Infinity War...hopefully.

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Ragnarok, on the other hand, was stellar. I have it at number 7. It's funny, entertaining, and I absolutely love the character development of my guy, Loki. If you've read the blog before, you know I'm a sucker for Loki, so seeing him finally go from anti-hero to full on hero almost brought me to tears. What did bring me to tears was how funny Korg was. Who would've thought a rock could be that funny, but Taika Waititi did an amazing job. And, like I've said, Ragnarok set the stage perfectly for Infinity War. 


Kevin Scott is a contributing writer for The Mouse Knows Best Podcast. He is self proclaimed Disney addict and oftentimes annoys his family with how much he talks Disney. He enjoys walking around all Disney Parks and taking as many pictures as he can in one day. When he isn't at Walt Disney World, he is working to get back or re-watching Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movie. His spirit animal is a mix between Simba and Kylo Ren with a dash of Tony Stark. You can find him on Twitter @doubleoh_kevin and on Instagram @waltdisneyduo.