As the 2011 blockbuster season finally draws to a close, we can now turn out attention to future blockbuster seasons. And what better way to do so than with a report on yet another potential comic book franchise? Twitch Film updates us on Marvel’s long-in-the-works Doctor Strange project.
Over a year ago, we heard news that Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer – the writers behind the upcoming Conan the Barbarian reboot – had been hired on by Marvel to adapt their long-running character’s cosmic-sorcery exploits. They have apparently turned in a draft of the script, and Marvel is moving forward with the project. No word on the plot details, but here’s a synopsis of the comic:
Originated in 1963 by Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, Dr. Strange was a self-centered New York surgeon robbed of his touch after a car accident. After a stint as a wandering derelict, he found his way to a healer in the Himalayas, where he learned to tap into psychic powers to battle evil wizards and other wrongdoers. His mind is his weapon, rather than the brute force that distinguish most memorable Marvel heroes.
Donnelly and Oppenheimer had a lot of heat when they were first signed to this property. They had Conan going, and had worked on the Cowboys & Aliens script. Now that we’ve had our first underwhelming look at Conan – and with Jon Favreau‘s hugely expensive genre mish-mash sputtering out during it’s first weekend in release – Marvel could be losing confidence in their writers’ ability to breathe life into yet another superhero franchise.
According to TwitchFilm, “Marvel has drafted a short list of directors to approach on the title and is forwarding the current script to each to try and sign someone up to ‘oversee continued development’.” Which sounds like a very corporate way of saying, “We’re not exactly thrilled with this yet, but you’ll never know the real depth of our displeasure, nerds. Await further news with breathless, fanboy suspense. We are Marvel. No one is safe.”
So we’ll just have to wait and see. Their “shortlist of directors” will be interesting to see, what with the two latest attempts to get all cosmic with superheroes – namely, Thor and Green Lantern – revealed as critically-reviled heaps of cinematic clownshit.
Still, Marvel remains to committed to this thing. And while all super-powered heroes can be considered supernatural freaks of nature, this is one project that revels in the mystical something-or-whatever. Along with the recent news that Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) has turned in a draft of Ant-Man, I’m hoping this signals the studios’ intention to shift their fiercely protected money-machines into the realm of the completely bizarre.
Either way, Doctor Strange is eyeing a release sometime in 2013.
Are you a fan of the Doctor Strange comic? Who would you like to see rocking that cape with the crazy lapels?