One of the most compelling elements of superheroes is the ways in which people identify with different characters and all of their strengths and weaknesses. CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk seemingly sees himself in Doctor Strange, as he took to Instagram to share a photo of the Sorcerer Supreme. The director of Doctor Strange, Scott Derrickson, offered his input on the connection.
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Musk shared the photo, which he merely captured “Selfie,” featuring the likeness of Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch.
Over on Twitter, Derrickson shared the post, but noted, “It’s not about you.”
It’s unclear if Derrickson’s comments were a criticism of the billionaire adopting the persona of a beloved character or if he was noting that Strange’s various arcs in comics and movies weren’t an accurate reflection of Musk, but it’s clear Derrickson didn’t approve of the comparison.
While Musk has often been lauded for his innovations in the realm of space exploration, the mogul recently came under fire from an artist after a copyright infringement.
In February of 2017, Musk shared an image of a mug featuring artwork that depicted a farting unicorn, a piece created by Tom Edwards. The artist received a bump in exposure thanks to the tweet, as Musk noted that he was given the mug as a gift and enjoyed it so much that he wanted to share it with his followers.
Later that year, the artwork was recreated, without Edwards’ permission, to demonstrate the functionality of a sketchpad application in Tesla cars, a company which Musk co-founded. This means that the artwork was available in all Teslas, without Edwards agreeing to this.
Recording artist Lisa Prank, who is Edwards’ daughter, took to Twitter to get to the bottom of the situation.
Musk eventually deleted all of his tweets in the exchange, but claimed that the exposure he gave to the artist should be more than acceptable. He shared, “Have asked my team to use a diff example going forward. He can sue for money if he wants, but that’s kinda lame. If anything, this attention increased his mug sales.”
The CEO also claimed to have attempted to contact the artist, though Prank claims those remarks were false.
Whether or not Derrickson’s criticism of Musk’s comparison was motivated by this exchange is unknown, though we’ll keep an eye out to see if the remarks continue.
What do you make of the social media interaction? Let us know in the comments below!
[H/T Twitter, scottderrickson]
