Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain

In the MCU, Stephen Strange made his dialogue debut in Captain America: Winter Soldier. He was to be targeted by HYDRA based on his past writings, test scores, etc. At the time, no actor had been cast. In the character’s history, he wasn’t even a sorcerer yet, just a gifted and arrogant surgeon who would do something great in his future (according to an algorithm). During the time of the Chitauri invasion, he was performing surgery across town. He was also referenced in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 (a director he’d work under in the Strange sequel) in the early 2000’s. There was also a 1978 made-for-TV-movie that was low budget and apparently very trippy. Jack Kirby, the genius artist who co-created most of Marvel Comics, would cut up magazines and use those images with his art to create incredible scenes for Strange to navigate. Alex Ross uses the late musician Frank Zappa as his Dr. Strange facial model for his painted super-hero art. 

I remember when Benedict Cumberbatch was named Dr. Strange, it was a perfect piece of MCU casting. My main question was going to be would they make Strange British or American. The British accent does add to the character’s arrogance and wisdom. Plus, I like hearing him speak. After watching Cumberbatch in numerous roles including Smaug, Khan, and Sherlock Holmes, I was excited. Plus, Adam Warrock wrote a whole song about him! 

I liked the movie, but it isn’t one of my favorites. Despite magic and all that, I rank it pretty low. One of my favorite book series is Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. My idea of magic and its users come primarily from this and Harry Potter. It was just another origin story. But, I do like Stephen Strange and the role he plays in the MCU and the actor is top-knotch! As a matter of fact, all the actors in this movie are incredible choices! I also find it funny that there are two dudes named Benedict in this movie. 

• Funky-looking library with weird cages for books. 3 bad guys sneak in and restrain him with light-whips (obviously magic) then a 4th comes in (who we learn is a zealot named Kaecillius played by the always incredible Mads Mikkelson) and beheads the librarian using 2 real blades. He takes down a caged book and rips some pages out for a dark ritual. Then a hooded figure in orange comes out and tells them that the “ritual will bring you sorrow.” The group goes outside to modern New York City. They enter the Mirror Dimension, Kaecillius yells “hypocrite!” and the buildings turn in on themselves, creating a crazy, always moving landscape. Some of these constructions crush some bad guys. The orange guy (the Ancient One) creates magical shields and even throws them around like Captain America. The all use their “sling rings” to escape, including the Ancient One
  
  
  
  
  
• The mirror dimension scenes obviously remind me of Inception. The same collapsing buildings and odd landscapes. In his third movie, Peter Parker was able to defeat Strange in this dimension by using advanced math as opposed to magic
  
  
  
  
  
• It’s surgery time! Dr. Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) scrubs up to do brain surgery. He correctly identifies Chuck Mangione’s 1977 hit Feels So Good and its album minutiae. It’s not useless knowledge! His photographic memory also comes out in his music choices, he remembers everything about an album, track or band. He’s with his former\current girlfriend Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) who is also a good surgeon and hospital administrator. Strange obviously has a raging ego and is arrogant as hell
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
• Strange is now onto another surgery – this dude’s not really dead. He has a whole intact bullet lodged in his brain and will die if he doesn’t get expert brain surgery. Strange obviously has contempt for his fellow surgeon, Dr. Nick West. Even his reflecting watch bugs him in the surgery room. There are a few "real doctor looks at surgery scenes" on YouTube out there!
  
  
  
  
• Strange saves the dude’s life, of course. He doesn’t like dealing with the families afterwards, however. Christine and Strange talk about their spinal surgery technique, informally called “The Strange Palmer Technique (or Palmer Strange Technique),” a laminectomy spinal procedure. He then invites her to go to an awards banquet in his honor at the Neurological Society Dinner. There’s a few national organizations and one for the state of New York itself. She declines, knowing they’re more for his ego than a date. Another Multiverse variant of Strange has the car crash with Christine inside, she’s killed and he spends millennia trying to bring her back (What If..)
  
  
• So what happens next is Strange preparing for the dinner, something that the director looks back upon under different circumstances. He shaves, gets ready and puts on a tuxedo. He has a piano in his apartment, showing that Strange enjoys playing music as well. He has these fancy watch boxes that automatically wind the watches by moving constantly. Guy has at least a dozen or more. Like Tony Stark, he chooses a Jaeger (which we later find out has an inscription from Christine). It’s the last fancy watch he’ll ever own and one (unlike Stark) he has to give up, so to speak. It’s a Jaeger Le Coultre that costs anywhere between $5,000.00 to $8,300.00. Super expensive befitting a top brain surgeon
  
  
• The car that Strange drives is truly a supercar. Usually the MCU (and in particular, Tony Stark) goes with the newest Audi, but this time is different: it’s a Lamborghini Huracan LP610–4 Coupe
  
  
  
  
  
• Dr. Strange must be one hell of a surgeon because it costs around $237,250. It’s got a 5.2 liter V10 engine and goes 0-60 in 3.2 seconds! It’s a perfect car for an arrogant surgeon who drives fast on the way to an awards banquet
  
  
• He speaks to his assistant via speaker phone while speeding. The Air Force officer who had spinal injuries could be one of two individuals: Lt. Col. James Rhodes, AKA War Machine. In Civil War, a de-powered War Machine violently crashed to the ground after Vision accidentally destroyed his ARC Reactor. He had sustained spinal injuries and only Stark Tech allowed him to walk again. The second possibility is the unnamed test pilot working for Hammer Industries in Iron Man 2. In his zeal to create his own Iron Man armor, Justin Hammer tested a suit on film that (again) violently wrenched the pilot’s whole spine 365 degrees in the wrong direction. Rhodey would be more likely given the years since the Iron Man 2 accident
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Another case he goes over is a woman who has an electronic implant to control schizophrenia who was struck by lightning. That’s called brain stimulation and is a real thing. He really needs to feed his incredible ego by doing something cutting edge
  
  
• He looks at his phone screen, gets distracted, then crashes the Lambo!! You can see his hands just getting crushed. His super-expensive watch also survives, but has a cracked glass face in a familiar symbol...
  
  
  
  
  
• Ironically, the only surgeon who may have been able to save Strange’s hands and career was Strange himself. It’s a weird General Hospital \ Dr. Drake Ramoray-type situation. He’s a brain surgeon but also done spinal surgery, he has the skills and ego to do pretty much anything medical
  
  
  
  
  
• After they find him (probably after several hours since his hands condition has gotten worse) and he’s brought into surgery. It’s Dr. West, the one person Strange doesn’t want doing surgery on him. He wakes up, horrified to see his hands, the two things that brought him fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, absolutely ruined. He has severe nerve damage, torn ligaments and 11 stainless steel surgical pins in his hands. His hands shake; his career as a brain surgeon is OVER
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
• Strange keeps going to the surgical board, requesting more expensive and experimental procedures so he can use his hands again as a surgeon. While in Rehab, he’s told of a guy who had nerve damage and injury far worse than him – factory accident, back broken, wasted leg, etc. The Physical Therapist (who only has a Bachelor’s Degree much to Strange’s disgust) tells him the guy ended up walking. Strange says it's impossible and asks for proof. The PT says that for his arrogant ass, he’ll find the guy’s file -- Jonathan Pangborn
  
  
• The name of the DVD chapter is “Medicine and Mania,” and that fits. Strange can’t write or shave. He looks worse and worse, a guy who lost everything he thought matters. Most of the expensive stuff is gone from his apartment (including the piano), and you know Strange has been hawking it all to get money for more procedures that don’t work on his hands. He can’t even sign his own name anymore. Christine was going to say that he has her and he can fulfill his life’s purpose in other ways (probably by writing or teaching) but she’s cut off. His arrogance and frustration comes to a head and he yells at Christine, wounding her with his angry words. She leaves him, dropping her keys off. Time passes, things get worse. Strange keeps the Jaeger watch that he had on in his accident – it’s shattered but has an inscription from Christine
  
  
• Strange gets the medical file (probably a HIPAA violation) and sees the impossible, Pangborn was healed miraculously. The guy who healed himself is Benjamin Bratt – he’s been in a lot of projects including the last season of Andor as Bail Organa. Guy’s walking around, playing basketball. Strange finds him on the court and talks to him. It seems Jonathan Pangborn went to Strange for help with his spine and was turned away. He tells Strange to go to a place called Kamer-Taj in Kathmandu to get healed
  
  
  
  
  
• Strange spends his last dollar to get to Kathmandu. He passes by those things that Eddie Murphy uses in The Golden Child – “I want the knife” and tries to find Kamer-Taj. A guy in a fancy hood watches him
  
  
  
  
  
• Strange is mugged for his last Earthly possession, the Jaeger watch. But the guy in the green hood intervenes and karate chops the bad guys, giving the watch back and leading him to Kamar-Taj. This is Mordo, a Master of the Mystical Arts. Chiwetel Ejiofor has been in everything lately. He’s another tremendous actor and has a cool name. The first time I saw him was in Serenity, the Firefly movie by Joss Whedon in 2005. He played the cruel samurai-like Operative. Mordo is immovable in his convictions
  
  
  
  
  
  
• He meets The Ancient One. I don’t have the weird love affair some people have with Tilda Swinton, she’s a brilliant actor but an odd duck. I know her primarily from playing the androgynous archangel Gabriel in Keanu Reeves’ Constantine. All hospital bracelets and wings and feet. She already seems to know who Strange is and that he was a surgeon before his accident. She also tells Strange that he’s disrespectful and to forget everything he’s learned
  
  
  
  
  
• The casting of Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One was controversial. The Ancient One is usually an ancient Chinese guy. The filmmakers were accused of whitewashing while they said they wanted to avoid any negative stereotypes. The Ancient One is a title passed along, like Sorcerer Supreme. Swinton and Marvel said that maybe this Ancient One is Celtic. There are several Celtic sorcerers in mythology. Now, whenever I hear the term “The Ancient One,” I can only think of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. There was an old Shaolin Master named Lao Tsi (or sometimes Ping Hai) who was called The Ancient
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• However, Strange still thinks as a surgeon, a man of science and rational thought. He’s ridiculously arrogant and self-assured. Tony Stark times 100. At one point, he asks the Ancient One if she’s doing “bleeding edge medical techniques,” and the reason she’s in Kathmandu is because there’s no regulating governmental medical board (which isn't true). She tries to explain that what they do is mystical in nature and not science. They argue and Strange mentions being “a speck in an indifferent universe.” The Ancient One then punches Dr. Strange out of his physical body (the same way she does to the Hulk in Endgame) and takes him on a Magical Mystery Tour. It’s very trippy, Strange in his Astral Form. He follows a butterfly through the Multiverse, seeing crazy things including a Dark Dimension. After asking to be taught by her, she kicks him out of Kamer-Taj
  
  
  
  
  
• The scene of Strange kneeling outside Kamer-Taj waiting for somebody to open the door oddly reminds me of a scene from the old GI Joe comics from the 80’s. Zartan, as part of an assassination plot, kneels outside the door of the old Japanese Ninja swordsmith until he is let in due to his perseverance. However, Strange waited only a few hours while Zartan was out there for months.I think it’s a pretty common trope in samurai or philosophical tales
  
  

  
  
  
  
• We learn that Mordo came to Kamer-Taj angry, wanting revenge against his enemies. He was taught the Mystical Arts and apparently never went after those enemies. But he does want to confront evil directly, turning to violence is just part of his growing up. He’s also unbending in his beliefs. The Ancient One lets Strange back in and we find out that Kamer-Taj is a little more high-tech than we realized. There’s an automatic door that opens by buzzer and that the Wifi password is “Shambala”
  
  
• Strange’s sorcery training begins. The Ancient One only refers to Strange as “Mister,” never “Doctor.” It takes some time for Strange to get over the word “spells” and harness energy. He meets the new Librarian of Kamer-Taj, Wong (played by, uh. Benedict Wong). They discuss music (turns out Wong is a Beyonce fan). Strange has a photographic memory (that’s how he got his MD and PhD at the same time). And that Google Translate has Sanscrit! It does in real life and it was added in 2002. We find out that no knowledge is forbidden, just the dark practices of it. The book Kaecillius stole was from the Book of Cagliostro. It’s a book on Time Manipulation and performing dark rituals. Alessandro Cagliostro was a real 16th Century occultist and magician. Seems Kaecillius had a family that was killed, that's how he got started down this path
  
  
  
  
• Back to Kaecillius and his disciples. They’re in a church of all places and he reads the pages he stole. Markings around his eyes, almost like they’re crying acid and a symbol appears on their forehead. They have let Dormammu into their lives, an evil cosmic entity who promises Immortality
  
  
  
  
  
• The funky runny eye-makeup magical effect on the bad guys also appears in The Runaways (a show I never got into) and their magic-person Nico Minoru. She didn’t do the whole Dormammu worshiping thing they did, but she still committed herself wholly to black magic and the Dark Dimension with her magic staff
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I wonder if somebody like Kaecilius ran into traditional law-enforcement or SHIELD in his magical rise to power. He is a murderer after all
  
  
• Strange learns about the Sling Ring, a physical device that allows a sorcerer to travel to any point in the world and in the Multiverse. It’s a device that both Ned Leeds and Cassandra Nova use to travel. He can’t quite get the swing of it because, he claims, his hands are too damaged and shake. But then the Ancient One shows him a guy with only one hand can do it – it’s not about your physical body, it’s spiritual
  
  
  
  
  
• She opens a portal and leaves him on Mt. Everest. He can only last about three minutes before dying of the cold. It’s about 39,000 feet above sea level and around 30 degrees. Online there is some scary stuff about “the death zone.” The Ancient One and Mordo wait for Strange to come back from Mt. Everest. Mordo even says “oh no not again!” Strange manages to open up a portal and makes his way back
  
  
• This event turns a corner for Strange, making him more confident, that arrogance returning. He cuts his hair and even shaves, making himself a goatee. Stephen Strange going for forbidden knowledge or advanced magic too early shows he could have just as easily been a Dormammu disciple. He learns quickly (and the Ancient One is okay with this, giving him plenty of room - she seems to bend over backwards, accepting his unusual and fast ways of learning) but not really gaining the wisdom that comes along with it. At this point, he’s stealing books from Wong (some right in front of him) and sleeping while his Astral Form reads, something that Wanda Maximoff will do as well. He also continues to email Christine, never hearing back from her. We’re also introduced to the Mirror Dimension, an alternate reality where you can practice magic, etc without affecting the real world (it’s what we see in the beginning of the movie). They forgot to mention that bad guys have control over this dimension
  
  
  
  
  
• Strange has also become quite the martial artist, sparring with Mordo in the courtyard. Mordo reveals that Sorcerers have a relic that chooses them to help them fight better, gain knowledge, whatever. Mordo has both The Staff of the Living Tribunal and The Vaulting Boots of Valtourr. He uses them both to attack Strange. I view almost like the World of Harry Potter’s wands choosing their owners at the start of their schooling at Hogwarts
  
  
  
  
  
  
• In the definition of bad ideas and forbidden practices, Strange goes to the library and starts to read the Book of Cagliostro while eating an apple. He also decides to pick up an ancient amulet and wear it, the Eye of Agamotto (later revealed to be an Infinity Stone) that can manipulate time. He uses the spell (the warnings come after the instruction) to reconstitute that apple and to put the pages back in the Book of Cagliostro. This messes with the Natural Laws and nobody’s happy. Having a photographic memory, Strange reads and instantly understands what the pages say
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mordo and Wong stop Strange from going any further and explain to him what the Sorcerers are actually doing at Kamer-Taj. The Avengers stop physical threats while the Sorcerer Supreme (The Ancient One) stops the mystical kind. The first Sorcerer Supreme was Agamotto (although he did use an Infinity Stone to master time). Like the War Dogs of Black Panther, three mystical Sanctums were placed in areas of power like London, New York and Hong Kong (they're also financial centers). Some evil entities like Dormammu want Earth for themselves. Strange is taken aback – he was only at Kamar Taj to heal his hands, not become a mystical warrior
  
  
• Just as the three sorcerers have the door to the London Sanctum open, Kaecillius attacks it and Strange is blown into another Sanctum. After going outside, he realizes it’s the New York Sanctum on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village. It’s a huge building with relics in glass containers and doorways to different environments. He’s still wearing the Eye of Agamotto, an immensely powerful object. The Dark Disciples continue to attack Strange. Since their communion with Dormammu, these bad guys use weapons not made of energy but something completely different– physical, like glass. Strange is able to conjure his own weapons and trap 2 of the Disciples in different environments
  
  
  
  
  
• There is a humorous interaction with Kacillius about “Mister Doctor.” Strange manages to hold his own magically against those Dark Disciples trying to kill him. He’s slammed through several glass cases before coming across The Cloak of Levitation. It saves his life twice; it seems Strange found his relic. It directs him to use this crazy S&M-looking contraption against Kaecillius called the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. For X-Men fans, this was a jewel in the comics that gave the Juggernaut his immense strength. Here, it binds Kaecillius into an uncomfortable position. He and Strange talk about philosophy and immortality until Kaecillius’ backup arrives. Kaecillius even uses some of Strange's words against him. Strange is stabbed and his Sling Ring stolen. He continues to fight and regain his ring. The Cloak helpfully chokes the backup. The Relic has chosen its owner, Dr. Strange
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  

  

  
  
• He opens a portal to his old hospital and calls for Christine. He needs surgery ASAP! He goes into his Astral Form and helps Christine drain blood from his chest cavity. At one point, Strange and Christine talk about Kathmandu by Bob Seeger. He somehow makes her see him. Just then the choked bad guy goes into his Astral Form and fights Strange. Even the physical world is disrupted when they fight. When Christine shocks Strange to get his heart going with a defibrillator, it gives him an extra burst of energy. Another shock helps him defeat and actually kill his opponent
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Strange goes back to the Sanctum but is distraught that he violated the Hippocratic Oath and killed somebody. The Ancient One is talking about making Strange the Master of the New York Sanctum since it’s still in one piece thanks to him. He’s sick of The Ancient One referring to him as “Mister Strange.” She counteracts with thoughts about his ego talking. Strange then reveals he knows why the Ancient One is able to remain young and powerful. She’s taking energy from the Dark Dimension, the same place as Kaecillius and his guys. Mordo doesn’t believe it at first and calls Strange a coward. The Ancient One hides her forehead mark and uses the power for good not evil. Mordo is horrified by this revelation and it really destroys everything he believed in
  
  
• The bad guys come back and foolishly Strange puts them into the Mirror Dimension. What he doesn’t know is that the Dark Disciples OWN that Dimension and are able to control it at will (same way the Ancient One did). They all fight, some Disciples are crushed beneath bending buildings
  
  
  
  
  
• Stan Lee Cameo! On the bus again! He’s reading The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. Huxley also wrote Brave New World, a future MCU title. Perception is about the author’s use of psychedelics and his experiences. Ironically, crazy stuff is happening outside the bus while Stan Lee is reading and laughing about it inside the bus, unable to see the Mirror Dimension. He also does joke about doing acid in Ant-Man & The Wasp in the 60’s
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
• The Ancient One is stabbed. Mordo and Strange take her out of the Mirror Dimension and she literally crashes to the ground through a glass canopy. Again, they take her to the hospital and Strange calls for Christine
  
  
• Strange tells Nick that he needs to do the surgery, finally a sign of respect from Strange. However, The Ancient One flies out of her body in her Astral Form. Strange follows, telling her she’ll die if she doesn’t go back. The Ancient One is slowing down time
  
  
• The Ancient One says that she has seen this scene of her death for centuries. What would she have thought of the giant buildings and plane? Not being able to interpret the technology and “modernity” during ancient times must have been confusing and frustrating
  
  
• She tells Strange that he could have his old life back and use magic to heal himself like Pangborn did. The exact opposite of Kaecillius, she says that death gives life meaning and that time is short. The Ancient One dies. Strange chooses to fight Kaecillius. He’ll need Mordo’s help, despite his moral conflict
  
  
• Before jetting off to Honk Kong to fight Kaecillius (home of the final Sanctum), Strange pops up his Cloak’s collar like he was Sherlock Holmes. Mordo says screwing with the Natural Laws (like the Ancient One did) is evil and the bill always comes due
  
  
  
  
  
• They get to Hong Kong and they’re too late. The Sanctum has been destroyed, the Dark Dimension is in the sky. However, Strange is still wearing the Eye of Agamotto and rewinds time! All the Sorcerers fight amongst the rewinding items like cars and buildings. Wong is brought back to life and Kaecillius is temporarily trapped in a wall
  
  
• Seeing a way out, Strange and his Cloak fly up to Dormammu and wants to bargain for Earth and its inhabitants. He encounters this crazy, 70’s black light dimension with glowing dark colors and meets Dormammu
  
  
  

  
  
  
• Dormammu looks like a scarier version of his comic book counterpart. He’s also voiced by Dr. Strange himself, Benedict Cumberbatch. In a meta way, he’s bargaining with himself, his darker side
  
  
  
  
  
• The time loop sequence reminds me of the one from Nightmare on Elm Street 4. It's my favorite chapter and I'm in love with the Just of the 10 of Us girls. Takes a couple of tries for Dormammu to realize he’s in the time loop. Meanwhile, Strange is becoming a greater sorcerer, getting practice going up against this cosmic being. He’s in constant pain from being killed by dark magic so many times but is willing to accept it (like his hands). He loses again and again and Dormammu gets angrier and angrier
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Finally Dormammu wants to bargain. Strange wants the Zealots gone and end the assault on Earth forever. Kaecillius and his Disciples are atomized and brought to the Dark Dimension. I guess they’re immortal now but probably in endless torment
  
  
• The magic stuff that happened would surely be an Avengers-level threat if Strange hadn’t erased everything that happened. Mordo quits everything, his world view shattered and probably a bit insane because of it
  
  
  
  
  
• Strange is now the Master of the New York Sanctum and must protect the Earth from mystical threats. The next time we see Strange will be in Infinity War and Endgame (with a quick cameo in Thor Ragnarok). There are rumors that Strange will be making a special appearance in Doomsday and Secret Wars as Boris, Doom’s main Sorcerer guy!
  
  
  
  
  
• Wong goes on to become the Sorcerer Supreme, take on Thanos’ Black Order and Wanda Maximoff and become besties with Madisynn (spelled with two N's and one Y "not where you think") in She-Hulk
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Post-Credit Scene #1: The scene from Thor Ragnarok. Strange is meeting with Thor (who is in disguise) in the Sanctum Sanctorum in order to find his father Odin. He gives Thor a never-ending mug of beer
  
  
• Post-Credit Scene #2: It’s been months since the events in Hong Kong. Mordo’s entire world view has changed and he takes Pangborn’s power by force, leaving him with a broken back. Mordo says “too many sorcerers.” I gotta wonder how’d he do up against a Harry Potter or Harry Dresden. Taking that guy’s powers and therefore his ability to walk is a tremendously dick move on Mordo’s part. How’s he gonna get off the floor or out of whatever building he’s in? Mordo no longer has the fancy green hood and cloak, just a regular gray hoodie. There never really is a conclusion to Mordo’s storyline (with him losing all faith in the natural order). Next time we see him in Multiverse of Madness, it’s a variant. Mordo is the new Sorcerer Supreme in his Illuminati universe but still jealous of Strange and still a jerk. There was supposed to be another Mordo beat in Multiverse of Madness where Wanda shows Strange Mordo’s severed head. I guess he went after the wrong sorcerer.
  
  
  
  
  
• Speaking of variants, I first thought Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character in the third Venom movie was a Mordo variant. He could still be, but he plays a soldier named General Rex Strickland. No magic involved. He’s in charge of taking care of symbiotes on Earth like Venom and Carnage. He gets sloppy when some of his men are killed and starts making bad decisions.