Doctor Strange: How The Comics Influence The Looks Of Alternate Dimensions

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Doctor Strange movie is its intense visual effects. After the film’s first trailer dropped, references to Inception became popular amongst audiences but, in fact, the visual effects are heavily influenced by specific comics.

According to production designer Charles Wood, it was Steve Ditko’s Doctor Strange comics which were the starting point for the team behind the November movie.

“It was looking at how those other dimensions are being portrayed in the comics,” Wood says of the alternate dimensions in Doctor Strange. “I looked at that stuff in the beginning and thought, ‘Oh my god, how could that ever translate into film?’”

Wood quickly developed a can-do spirit to make sure Doctor Strange saw the best product possible. “If you have that attitude, you’re never going to get anywhere because you won’t allow yourself to go into that world,” he says.

“Ditko was a huge influence in all of that, and we took that as a starting point, and took it from there, to try and come up with something very different,” Wood concludes.

Ditko is credited with the creation of Doctor Strange, spawning one of his most iconic characters in Strange Tales #110 back in July of 1963. The character quickly became one of the most unique in all of comics with his interdimensional travel and the impressive, trippy art which came with it.

Doctor Strange hits theaters November 4, 2016.