'Doctor Strange' Director Connects 1958 Polish Film to 'Avengers: Infinity War'
What do Avengers: Infinity War and 1950s Polish cinema have in common? Apparently a knack for [...]
What do Avengers: Infinity War and 1950s Polish cinema have in common? Apparently a knack for terrifying torture methods.
One of the most memorable scenes in the newest Infinity War trailer appeared to pit Ebony Maw against Benedict Cumberbatch's Sorcerer Supreme. We all watched as Doctor Strange screamed in pain, spikes jetting out from his head at all angles.
Regardless of its context in the actual movie, this scene closely resembles a movie that was made 60 years ago.
Scott Derrickson, director of the Doctor Strange standalone film, is well known for his knowledge of film history. On Monday, the filmmaker tweeted out a still frame from the 1958 Polish film Ashes and Diamonds in which a head is impaled with several spikes, similar to what Doctor Strange was seen going through in the Infinity War trailer. It's easy to assume that Derrickson posted this in response to the trailer, though he didn't offer any context.
— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) March 27, 2018
Ashes and Diamonds was romantic war drama directed by Andrzej Wajda and starred Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, and Waclaw Zastrzezynski. The film was released in the United States in 1961, three years after its initial debut.
In the trailer, the shot of Strange being tortured is followed directly by a glimpse of Black Order member Ebony Maw smiling and putting a finger over his lips. While these two shots may not actually take place at the same point in the film, they do allude to the inclusion of a major plot point from Jonathan Hickman's Infinity comic series.
At one point in the comics, Ebony Maw is sent to retrieve information from Doctor Strange, and he uses his mental powers to take hold of Strange, turning him into a double agent for Thanos. Seeing the Sorcerer tortured at the hands of Ebony Maw certainly hints at a similar storyline playing out in the film.
Avengers: Infinity War was originally set to hit theaters in the United States on May 4, the same day as the first Avengers film was released in 2012. However, Disney decided to move the release up one week to April 27, allowing the film to debut around the world on the same day.
Marvel Studios will follow up Infinity War with Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, and the currently untitled Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019. The studio's latest hit, Ryan Coogler's Black Panther, is still playing in theaters around the world.
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