Doctor Strange Defend, Future, and Fight TV Spots Released

Three more Doctor Strange TV spots have hit the airwaves this week, ramping up the promotional magic for the next Marvel Studios film now only two and a half weeks out from its US release (and less than a week from hitting UK theaters). The new spots are titled "Defend," "Future," and "Fight," each pretty weighty titles for Doctor Strange fans.

Defend is interesting, because of Doctor Strange's ties to the superhero team The Defenders. In the pages of Marvel Comics, Doctor Strange can be seen in the group, usually with Hulk, Namor, and another member like Silver Surfer - an eclectic group to say the least. In the MCU, our Defenders will be the Marvel Netflix heroes, of course, like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. "Defend" in this context is a job description - Strange is being recruited to defend the world from mystical threats.

"Future" is an international TV spot, focused on Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) embracing his future destiny as the Master of the Mystic Arts. The spot shows the parallels between his life as a surgeon and his life cutting open dimensions, and offers some fresh looks at the world-bending we'll see in the film. With heavy speculation that the Infinity Stone within the Eye of Agamotto (the mystical amulet that helps channel his magic powers around his neck) is the Time Stone, the word "Future" has implications around that, as well.

Finally, every good superhero needs a good fight scene (and a villain to have it with), and that's what this last recent TV spot shows off. This is focused on the actual mystical beatdown that's going to go down between Doctor Strange and Kaecilius (played by Mads Mikkelsen), a Master from the hidden city of Kamar-Taj who turns against the Ancient One in a quest for ultimate power. While there's not much of that actually shown in this short TV spot, the very different kinds of mystical fights were a big focus during our set visit in London earlier this year. Director Scott Derrickson told us that he wanted to find a completely new way to show magic fights in this movie, not wanting to just do "green bolt of light versus red bolt of light." Instead, we'll see a combination of world-bending, pulling spells out of other dimensions, and martial arts-based focusing of energy.

Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson, brings magic into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a big way, as it tells the story of Stephen Strange's journey to becoming Master of the Mystic Arts and Sorcerer Supreme. It also features ties to Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War, instantly slotting Strange and magic directly into the larger MCU and Marvel Studios' plans for the future. Doctor Strange hits theaters November 4, 2016.