How Doctor Strange Stands Alone In The Marvel Cinematic Universe According To Kevin Feige

With Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios is being forced to return to its roots. The first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe dealt with introducing all of the major players – Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, etc – to the cinematic stage.

Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was almost entirely sequels, building on the framework laid down in those Phase 1 films. Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, is bringing a lot of new characters to the screen for the first time, beginning with Ant-Man (which was technically part of Phase 2 but felt more like a small-scale introduction to Phase 3). Marvel Studios was able to cheat a bit by introducing Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther and Tom Holland as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, but Doctor Strange will be fans first experience with Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, as Captain Marvel will be fans' first exposure to Brie Larson as Carol Danvers (as far as we know).

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige says they're handling the introduction of Doctor Strange the same way the studio handled previous introductions.

"It's an origin story in this film in particular and it always has been our model, with a few exceptions, to introduce a character and introduce their world and then have the fun of meeting that character in another movie down the line," Feige says in an on-set interview. "Iron Man, Cap, Thor, most recently Ant-Man. Certainly, that's what we're doing in Doctor Strange. If you didn't know this movie was connected to 13 movies before it, nothing in this movie would indicate that that was the case. This is very much a standalone introduction to a very complex character and a very complex world, which through this movie, and until maybe some upcoming movies, is relatively self-contained and independent."

Feige explains that there is a kind of natural divide that keeps Doctor Strange and the mystical side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from overlapping too often with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Avengers may be dealing with potentially world-ending threats, but Doctor Strange and his allies are dealing with threats on a whole other level.

"There are people inhabiting the same world that are stopping buildings from falling down, robots from doing this or aliens from doing that," Feige explains. "These people in this movie are stopping inter-dimensional forces from wiping out all of reality. Although it doesn't necessarily come up, we've always sort of assumed that the sorcerers have bigger fish to fry. When they hear there's something happening in the city or there's a bank being robbed or something, they're not thinking about it. They're thinking about, 'If we don't keep vigilant, our sense of reality will disappear and there won't be a bank to rob and there won't be a city to be conquered.'"

From Marvel comes Doctor Strange, the story of world-famous neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange whose life changes forever after a horrific car accident robs him of the use of his hands. When traditional medicine fails him, he is forced to look for healing, and hope, in an unlikely place – a mysterious enclave known as Kamar-Taj. He quickly learns that this is not just a center for healing but also the front line of a battle against unseen dark forces bent on destroying our reality. Before long Strange – armed with newly acquired magical powers – is forced to choose whether to return to his life of fortune and status or leave it all behind to defend the world as the most powerful sorcerer in existence.

Doctor Strange is directed by Scott Derrickson, from a screenplay he wrote with C. Robert Cargill. Doctor Strange stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton.

Doctor Strange opens in theaters in North America on Nov. 4, 2016.