Inter-dimensional girlfriends, a death in the family, and more iconic characters from
Marvel's comics were all chopped from Marvel's cinematic multiverse in Doctor Strange.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here, and if you've seen my review or my easter
egg video, you'll know that I enjoyed Benedict Cumberbatch's Inception-style entrance into
the MCU.
But now I want to look at some fascinating characters, scenes and magical artefacts that
didn't make it into the final movie.
By the way, I'm giving away a second copy of this awesome hardback book "The Mysterious
World of Doctor Strange" from DK and for a chance to win it, all you have to do is subscribe
and leave a comment about the deleted scenes on this video.
In case you're wondering, the book has over 170 pages of beautiful illustrations and info
about the crazy characters who've appeared in the Doctor Strange comics over the years.
And if you want some bonus ways to enter the giveaway, take a look at the Gleam link in
the video description below.
Quick warning: as you can imagine, there will be some spoilers in this video, so, if you
haven't seen the movie and want to avoid them click up here for my spoiler-free review of
Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange originally had an introductory prologue set at CERN, the European nuclear
research facility that carries out research into particle physics and which is also home
to the Large Hadron Collider.
Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige has said that the organization's research into
high-energy physics and its investigation of the sub-atomic world would have been a
great real world setting and way of introducing fictional alternate dimensions into the Marvel
Cinematic Universe.
Although the CERN prologue was scrapped, Feige has said it's possible that it might be used
in a Doctor Strange sequel.
Tina Minoru, played by actress Linda Louise Duan, has a tiny cameo in the movie, but promotional
TV spots show a brief scene with her wielding the iconic Staff of One, which is a powerful
magical object in the comics that Tina's daughter Nico acquires and later wields.
Speaking of which, Nico Minoru will be a lead character in Marvel's TV adaptation of The
Runaways on Hulu.
Unfortunately, the scene with Tina was cut from the movie's theatrical release, though
it seems likely that it would have been part of the sequence where Wong and his crew are
preparing to battle Kaecilius at the Hong Kong Sanctum Sanctorum.
Tina's character does appear a little more in Marvel's official Doctor Strange prelude
comic where she works with Daniel Drumm and other masters from Kamar-Taj to recover a
magical item called the Dark Sceptre from a thief.
And it really seems that there was also an extended scene at the Hong Kong Sanctum Sanctorum
that was cut from the film too.
For example, in the film, we do see Wong silently grabbing the Wand of Watoomb as he's readying
for Kaecilius's attack, but the official B-roll for the movie has more footage of Wong brandishing
the wand and also talking to the camera.
In the theatrical release, we only see the aftermath of the attack by Kaecilius on Hong
Kong, so this deleted scene with Wong might have shown a confrontation between Wong and
the Zealots and could filled in the gap in the story before Wong's death.
There was originally going to be an easter egg to the Ebony Blade in the movie but, in
the end, it was removed.
The Ebony Blade is an enchanted sword that appeared in the first issue of Marvel's Black
Knight comics.
In the movie, the mystical blade was going to be included in a magic book called The
Lexicon of Relics, but it "was taken out of the script" according to the head of the art
department Barry Gibbs.
Interestingly, there is a little easter egg to Black Knight's helmet among the relics
at the New York Sanctum.
Director Scott Derrickson has confirmed that there was a whole scene filmed with actress
Lulu Wilson, star of Ouija: Origin of Evil, who played Stephen Strange's sister, Donna.
In the comics, it's Stephen's younger sister Donna who sparks his interest in medicine
after she injures herself and he has to tend to her.
And more tragically, when she accidentally drowns, Strange becomes a lot more cynical
and uncaring.
The deleted scene with Donna would have given more depth to Strange's backstory; however,
Derrickson has said that it was removed because it ultimately didn't fit with the tone of
the film.
After Rachel McAdams was announced as a female lead in Doctor Strange, there was speculation
that she would be playing Doctor Strange's best-known girlfriend, Clea.
In the comics, Clea is Dormammu's niece and originates from the Dark Dimension, however,
Marvel felt that McAdams's character should be grounded in the real world rather than
other-worldly, and be somebody who could act as an anchor for Doctor Strange in New York.
The filmmakers also believed there were already enough new concepts to establish in this first
film and as Kevin Feige put it "an interdimensional girlfriend that's the daughter of an interdimensional
demonesque creature was a step too far in introducing this world."
Rachel McAdams, of course, plays Christine Palmer, who's is just one of the characters
who've taken on the mantle of Night Nurse in the comics.
While the film does make some subtle allusions to her comic book history as Night Nurse,
Christine Palmer in the movie never uses the Night Nurse alias and, in fact, she's actually
a doctor, although some movie critics seem rather confused and, despite having seen the
film, still think McAdams is playing a nurse.
Anyway, Marvel's Kevin Feige hasn't closed down rumours that Christine Palmer may still
take on the alias of Night Nurse in the MCU, saying that "it's just as much fun for us
as it is for the fans to speculate about that".
In the post-credits scene, when Mordo takes away Jonathan Pangborn's magic, rendering
him paralysed once more, we witness Mordo's conversion to the villainous role that his
character usually has in the comics.
However, concept art reportedly shown by Marvel at D23 Expo in 2015 showed Strange in battle
with Mordo, suggesting that there were initially plans to use Mordo either as the original
villain or have him turn against Strange earlier in the movie.
A possible villain cut from the film is the tentacled demonic monster Shuma Gorath, who
features in Marvel's comics and was teased via a LEGO set of Doctor Strange's Sanctum
Sanctorum.
The demon could be one of the weird and wonderful ideas that the movie's screenwriters Cargill
and Derrickson said they originally pitched but were asked to keep for future movies.
Amy Landecker, star of the comedy-drama Transparent, filmed scenes as a character called Dr Bruner,
but her scenes were confirmed by Scott Derrickson as having been cut from the final edit.
Which suggests there were more scenes set at the hospital where Strange works.
And Landecker's character Dr Bruner could also be an easter egg to artist Frank Brunner
who's worked on numerous Doctor Strange comics.
So, now I'd love to know what you thought about the deleted scenes and characters in
Doctor Strange.
What do you think should have stayed in the movie and what would like to see in a Doctor
Strange sequel?
Be sure to leave a comment and subscribe for a chance to win this very cool "The Mysterious
World of Doctor Strange" hardback book and I'll announce the winner in a couple of weeks.
And do turn on your YouTube notifications for Flicks And The City so you can catch all
my upcoming videos on Arrival, Fantastic Beasts, Rogue One and Moana.
And in the meantime, why not take a look at my other Doctor Strange videos and my Deleted
Scenes playlist?
Click on the links down below to check 'em out.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!