Doctor Strange Director Says Magic Won't Be Explained Scientifically

Abracadabra? Eh, seems like it. While the magic seen in Doctor Strange will surely overpower that sort of simple chant, the film is determined to stick with its magical roots.

According to Scott Derrickson, Doctor Strange definitely isn't looking to ground the story's magic in science. Speaking with GamesRadar at Comic Con, Derrickson said, "Magic is magic in this movie. It's not something that's explained away scientifically."

He went on to add, "It's not something that's easy to define. As magic should be. Magic should be mysterious. There's mystery to magic and there's mystery to the tone of the movie. Mystery is a good thing."

Clearly, Derrickson holds the position that magic should be seen openly in Marvel's Cinematic Universe - and, oh, what a nice opinion it is. Doctor Strange will mark one of the first explicit references to magic within the MCU since previous installments like Thor: The Dark World and even Avengers: Age of Ultron brushed over its existence.

In fact, Thor: The Dark World rubbed some fans the wrong way as it set out to ground Asgard's magical tech through science, saying the two things were indistinguishable from one another. Still, there were plenty of others who felt the combination was cool because, really, it's safe to say a society of god-like aliens would have some high-level technology.

And, with Avengers: Age of Ultron, fans went on to question the project's explanation of Scarlet Witch's powers. To be honest, the heroine's powers are still somewhat beyond explanation, but longtime fans did say they were unhappy with how the film showed Scarlet Witch's 'Chaos Magic.'

But, when it comes to Doctor Strange, there's almost no way someone could rationalize the hero's insane powers. After all, when a guy can draw energies from mystical beings like Agamotto, then I think we just have to admit he's dabbling with magic. Armed with various spells and enchanted items, Doctor Strange is planning to open moviegoers' eyes to a whole new world of magical possibilities.

So, yeah. Abracadabra.