We are only a few days away from the premiere of Avengers: Endgame and as the release date approaches and we reach the end of this journey, we want to look back on everything that brought us here. We’ve watched these heroes struggle, grow, and save humanity over the last ten years and our favorite moments of their stories. We will be going through each phase in order, covering every movie leading up to April 26. Today we cover Doctor Strange, which introduced us to Benedict Cumberbatch playing the surgeon Steven Strange who becomes the bearer of an Infinity Stone and has the ability to rewind time.
A couple members of our team have shared some of their favorite moments:
Conny:
This was a movie I was mostly excited for because of Benedict Cumberbatch, to be very honest. I love him as an actor and was excited to see what he would do with the character. It was odd to get used to Benedict with an American accent, but I think he did a great job with portraying the character and his journey. The other casting choices were admittedly controversial, but I still think they managed to produce an impressive origin story for this character.
Doctor Strange is probably one of the few Marvel films where I think seeing it in 3D was actually worth it because the visual effects in the film were even more impressive. Much like Iron Man/Tony Stark, Steven Strange gets a bit of a reality-check in his origin story, and that makes him more likeable as a character. I especially enjoy his interactions with Wong, the two of them make a great duo and their banter is something I looked forward to in Infinity War as well. I’m also a big fan of Mads Mikkelsen, who was a great choice to play Kaecilius, the villain in this movie.
If I had to pick a favorite scene, it would probably be the final fight, not only because it shows off the new dynamic Strange has developed, but is also an impressive demonstration of the effects used to create and show Strange’s powers.
Ali:
Doctor Strange came out in a time in my life when I was exploring spirituality so out of all the Marvel movies I most related to this one as a self-absorbed Steven Strange finally turned to spirituality to overcome what was a life changing injury. Watching Cumberbatch morph from a person it was easy to detest into a character it was easy to love was mesmerizing. His portrayal of the struggle to have faith was so intense and in the end peace just radiated from him even in the throws of battle with Kaecilius.
I agree with Conny, the visual effects in this particular film in the MCU were stunning. This is one of the few 3D movies I’ve seen that was truly worth it but even on a television at home in good ol’ 2D they are truly captivating.
Nicole:
There was a lot happening in the Doctor Strange movie from the beginning. They established Doctor Stephen Strange to be very immersed in and impressed with his own work. He had an amazing success record that was carefully cultivated by him and was incredibly arrogant to people and things that he thought were beneath him, very similar to a pre-Afghanistan Tony Stark. There were also some post-Afghanistan parallels as well. For example, in Iron Man 2, right before Tony’s catastrophic birthday party, there is a scene with he and Natasha while she picks out a watch for him. Tony’s birthday party was a turning point for Iron Man and also allowed Rhodey to “steal” the War Machine suit. We see something very similar with Doctor Strange where he is picking out a watch before he leaves to go to some affair. Right before his car accident, we find out that he was asked to take Rhodey’s case but declined it because it was not interesting enough and he was not the only doctor who could help him.
Benedict Cumberbatch was a great pick for Doctor Strange and it was incredibly hot to hear him speaking with an American accent. He has his crisis of faith, but showed no qualms about stepping up, even when he knew Kacielius was much stronger than him. He gave everything he had because, as the movie showed us, Doctor Strange didn’t believe in doing things halfway; he fully committed or he did nothing at all. Also, Benedict Wong was the perfect counterpart to play Wong. The characters challenged each other and the actors brought great life to their scenes together.
My favorite scene would have to be when Stephen is speaking to the Ancient One right before she dies. It showed how much his character had grown and allowed us to see some of his well hidden vulnerability as well. He did not want to lose his mentor and was afraid of what would happen without her around, however Doctor Strange being who he is, stepped right into the challenge and did not let it cause him to falter. The Ancient One had shown him a new path and he was going to explore it to the best of his ability and his natural arrogance allowed him to believe that he would succeed.
Stay with Nerds and Beyond for more Marvel memories as we prepare for Endgame!