(intense music)
Marvel has lots of strange things
in it's 75 plus year history.
At one point Thor became a frog named Throg.
The Punisher once has surgery to become a black guy.
Spiderman had radioactive...
spider sauce.
But for my money
the strangest character in all the Marvel Universe
is Doctor Strange.
I mean, it's right there in his name.
And now the good doctor is about to make his MCU debut
played by none other than Blambersnarf Clamberduke.
Love that guy.
So to celebrate
the weird mustachio'd master of the mystic arts,
on today's episode of The Dan Cave
we're rounding up some of the strangest Doctor Strange facts
you didn't already know.
Strange Fact, this isn't even his first movie.
In 1978 a two hour TV movie/pilot was produced for CBS
with the intention of launching a full-fledged TV series.
It started Lucille Bluth herself,
Jessica Walter, as Morgan le Fay,
you know, of Arthurian legend,
who is tasked by a demon
to kill her sorcerer supreme, Steven Strange,
played by Peter Hooten.
She possessed a young woman on earth name Clea
but basically, she wind out find Strange's mustache
entirely too sexy and that was pretty much it.
According to a 1985 interview,
Stan Lee thought that much of Dr. Strange's failure in 1978
was due to the fact it aired opposite Roots.
(laughs)
Yeah, sure, Stan.
Sure, that's what it was.
Strange fact, it's all in the name.
There was also a ridiculous
low budget 1992 film called Doctor Mordrid
that looks suspiciously like Doctor Strange
and for good reason.
Producer Charles Band had optioned Doctor Strange
from Marvel, but the rights lapsed before production began.
So rather than scrap the project, they proceeded
by rewriting the script to include original characters.
And actually, before they settled on Doctor Mordrid,
they wanted to call the character Doctor Mortalis.
You know, That old chestnut.
That old, hey what's a better name than Mordrid, Mortalis?
Oh I don't know, it's like if I called the Dan Cave
The Dan Hall chestnut.
Strange fact, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
In February, 1969, Roy Thomas and Gene Colan
tried to goose Doctor Strange's low sales
by giving Marvel's master of the mystic arts
a fun new costume.
Except by fun new costume I mean they made him look like
if Iron Man was really into leather and BDSM.
Seriously, he looks less like a super hero
and more like a (bleep) golum.
It lasted for seven issues
before Marvel finally gave us what we wanted,
That stache.
Strange fact, home sweet home.
The Sanctum Sanctorum is where Dr. Strange
cools his heels in between saving the universe
from all manner of supernatural evils.
It's also a real place you can visit in New York City.
Well, sort of, there's no arcane energy
or collection of occult artifacts lying around,
rather, the Sanctum, which is located at
177A Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village,
was the old apartment of Marvel writers
Gary Frederick and Roy Thomas.
If you look it up on google maps it looks pretty unassuming,
but maybe that's just what
the government wants you to think.
Maybe it is real, oh man.
Someone call Jessica Chobot,
cuz (bleep)'s about to get spook-ay.
Strange fact, comics killed the radio star,
well, not really.
Both Stan Lee and Steve Ditko were huge fans
of a 1930s radio series called Chandu the Magician,
which starred Gayne Whitman as the American, Frank Chandler
who learned secrets of the occult
from a Yogi while in India.
Adopting the name Chandu the Magician,
Chandler battled all sorts of supernatural evils
and possessed the powers of
teleportation, astro-projection,
and the ability to make illusions.
Sound familiar?
It's no wonder that Lee and Ditko admitted
they based Strange's powers and the world
he inhabited on Chandu.
And bonus fact, Bela Lugosi starred as Chandu
in a 1932 horror flick.
Bonus bonus fact, Bela Lugosi is Hungarian
for Benedict Cumberbatch, so it's all connected.
Strange fact, the price is right.
But Chandu wasn't the only creepy-cool Hollywood icon
that inspired Dr. Strange.
Stan Lee and Steve Ditko have said a number of times
over the years that Steven Strange was inspired
by actor Vincent Price.
Case in point, Steven Strange's middle name is Vincent.
And that mustache, that's unmistakable.
And that power over the occult,
wait you weren't supposed to know about that last one.
Here's the monster mash.
Strange fact, Doctor's galore.
Steven Strange isn't the only man to have dawned
the iconic red cloak of levitation
and served as Earth's sorcerer-supreme over the years.
In the sprawling Marvel multi-verse,
characters including Hank Mccoy, Tony Stark,
Brother Voodoo, Bruce Banner, Silver Surfer,
and even Dr. Doom have all taken over the role.
So, if Benedict Cumberbatch doesn't work out
for whatever reason, well let's just say
we've got options, baby.
Strange fact, good things take time.
A modern version of Dr. Strange
has actually been in development for 30 years.
In 1986, Back to the Future's scribe
Bob Yale penned a screenplay for Dr. Strange
that never got made, which opened with an epic
demonic battle that took place hundreds
of years in the past, how cool is that?
In 1990, Stan Lee himself teamed up with
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas co-writer, Alex Cox,
to create this bonkers version that culminated
in a battle between Strange, The Ancient One,
Baron Mordo, Dormammu, and even Merlin.
Yeah, that Merlin.
In the mid-90s, Batman v Superman writer David S. Goyer
wanted to write and direct a Strange flick that would use
as many practical effects as possible,
but never panned out, sad.
And then, in the mid-2000s, and this might be the most
crushing of all, Guillermo del Toro
was talking about teaming up with Neil Gaiman
to write a Strange film that would envision
the good doctor as more of a pulp-y occult detective,
but would've ditched the suit.
But hey, at least we'll always have the 1978 version.
Strange fact, is there a doctor in the building?
When Benedict Cumberbatch was officially cast
as Dr. Strange, many fans agreed that Marvel
had chosen the right man for the job,
however, Cum. B.B. wasn't always gonna play the part.
At one point or another, tons of Hollywood A-listers
were considered to be Marvel's sorcerer-supreme.
Including, Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto,
Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy, Joaquin Phoenix,
Jake Gyllenhaal, Colin Feral, and wait for it,
Keanu mother (bleep) Reeves.
Come on.
You're telling me you wouldn't want this guy
as the sorcerer-supreme?
I mean, come on.
And that my friends is a small sampling
of some of the seriously strange facts
about Dr. Strange you might not have already known.
But tell me, which is your favorite?
What would you add to this list?
Let me know in the comments below
and give me a mystical thumbs up while you're there.
Be sure to like and subscribe or else
you might miss next week's episode
when we talk about the story of Damon Wayans
wearing bulletproof pajamas and fighting crime
in Nazi-occupied Morocco in Casa Blankman.
Until next time, keep on digging.
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