Doctor Strange Inspired By Psychedelia​ Of Stan Lee And Steve Ditko's Comics

Doctor Strange is the sorcerer supreme, the guardian of magic in the Marvel Universe. As such, a traditional approach was the last thing his film debut needed, and luckily Director Scott Derrickson is anything but a traditional director.

Derrickson's vision for the film is firmly planted in what made the character so unique when creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko first introduced him, both tonally and visually, as he told The Daily News.

"It's pretty psychedelic," the filmmaker says. "If your love for the early Stan Lee-Steve Ditko comics was that visual, psychedelic ambition, I think you'll be pretty satisfied. The primary resource for the visual design of the whole movie came from those comics."

Derrickson has long been a Doctor Strange fan, and even in early meetings to direct the film he constantly referred back to the source material of the 1960's.

"I told them it should take a bold left turn, like the '60s comics," Derrickson recalls. "And I think they liked how I gravitate toward real actors, talented actors who are grounded in performances that are real, while dealing with the supernatural. That's why I've had great actors in genre films, which they usually don't do. And that was certainly the case with 'Doctor Strange.' "

Snippets of that surrealism have been seen in the trailers, according it seems those small glimpses are just the tip of the Iceberg.

Doctor Strange follows the story of the talented neurosurgeon Doctor Stephen Strange who, after a tragic car accident, must put ego aside and learn the secrets of a hidden world of mysticism and alternate dimensions. Based in New York City's Greenwich Village, Doctor Strange must act as an intermediary between the real world and what lies beyond, utilizing a vast array of metaphysical abilities and artifacts to protect the Marvel cinematic universe.

The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen, Scott Adkins, Benedict Wong, and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Doctor Strange hits theaters on November 4th.