Doctor Strange is a 2016 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 14th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Scott Derrickson from a screenplay he wrote with Jon Spaihts and C. Robert Cargill, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as neurosurgeon Stephen Strange along with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton. In the film, Strange learns the mystic arts after a career-ending car crash.
Various incarnations of a Doctor Strange film adaptation had been in development since the mid-1980s, until Paramount Pictures acquired the film rights in April 2005 on behalf of Marvel Studios. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer were brought on board in June 2010 to write a screenplay. In June 2014, Derrickson was hired to direct, with Spaihts re-writing the script. Cumberbatch was chosen for the eponymous role in December 2014, necessitating a schedule change to work around his other commitments. This gave Derrickson time to work on the script himself, for which he brought Cargill on to help. Principal photography on the film began in November 2015 in Nepal, before moving to England and Hong Kong, and wrapping up in New York City in April 2016.
Doctor Strange had its world premiere in Hong Kong on October 13, 2016, and was released in the United States on November 4, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. The film grossed $677.8 million worldwide and was met with praise for its cast, visual effects, and musical score. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. A sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, was released in May 2022.
Plot
In Kathmandu, the sorcerer Kaecilius and his zealots enter the secret compound Kamar-Taj and kills its librarian. They steal several pages from a book belonging to the Ancient One, the eldest sorcerer who has taught every student at Kamar-Taj, including Kaecilius, in the mystic arts. The Ancient One pursues the traitors, but Kaecilius and his followers escape.
In New York City, Dr. Stephen Strange, a wealthy and acclaimed, yet arrogant neurosurgeon, horrifically injures his hands in a car crash while en route to a speaking conference, leaving him permanently crippled. Fellow surgeon Christine Palmer tries to help him move on, but Strange vainly pursues experimental surgeries to heal his hands. Strange learns about Jonathan Pangborn, a paraplegic who mysteriously regained use of his legs. Pangborn directs Strange to Kamar-Taj, where he is taken in by Mordo, a sorcerer under the Ancient One. The Ancient One demonstrates her power to Strange, revealing the astral plane and other dimensions such as the Mirror Dimension. She reluctantly agrees to train Strange, whose arrogance and ambition remind her of Kaecilius.
Strange studies under the Ancient One and Mordo, and from ancient texts in the library that are now guarded by Master Wong. Strange learns that Earth is protected from threats from other dimensions by a shield generated from three Sanctums in New York City, London, and Hong Kong, which are all directly accessible from Kamar-Taj. The sorcerers' task is to protect the Sanctums, though Pangborn instead chooses to channel mystical energy only to heal his paralysis. Strange progresses quickly and secretly reads the book from which Kaecilius stole pages, learning to bend time with the Eye of Agamotto. Mordo and Wong warn Strange against breaking the laws of nature, drawing a comparison to Kaecilius' desire for eternal life.