Prepare to have your senses dazzled and your bum numbed. The Benedict Cumberbatch comic-book vehicle Doctor Strange could be “Marvel’s Fantasia”, according to the film’s cinematographer, Ben Davis.
Davis, who was speaking at a Bafta masterclass, said his vision for the film was inspired by artist/illusionist MC Escher and would incorporate “dark and psychedelic” influences.
“DPs [directors of photography] always love the word ‘dark’. The trouble is that most producers don’t like dark,” he said. “I described it as Marvel’s Fantasia because it’s so out there and different to everything else that they’ve done.”
Davis’s previous work with the company includes the well-reviewed box office hit Guardians of the Galaxy and Joss Whedon’s Avengers sequel, Age of Ultron. His non-Marvel credits include Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Doctor Strange – AKA Sorcerer Supreme – made his debut in comics in 1963. Directed by Scott Derrickson, the film version of his adventures will star Cumberbatch as a talented neurosurgeon who resorts to magic to help himself overcome injuries sustained from a car crash. Further plot details are hazy, but Davis said the film would take place “across multiple dimensions”.
Other cast members include Tilda Swinton, as a character called The Ancient One, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, making his Marvel debut as rival sorcerer Baron Mordo. Rachel McAdams is rumoured to be attached in an unspecified role.
Doctor Strange is released in the UK on 28 October 2016 and a week later in the US.
