Marvel passed on a "Doctor Strange" movie adaptation from creative powerhouses, Neil Gaiman and Guillermo Del Toro.
According to Bleeding Cool, it all started from a tweet from comic book writer Kurt Busiek. He was known for his works including several issues on "Avengers" and the limited "Astro City" series.
…ideas for other perspectives. I need more energy, I need more writing time.
— Kurt Busiek (@KurtBusiek) November 27, 2015
The award-winning fantasy genre author shared his own laments and replied to Busiek's tweet. Gaiman expressed his interest in working on the "Doctor Strange" character named Clea. He also tagged "The Labyrinth" helmer in his tweets.
@KurtBusiek I still wish Marvel had been interested in a @RealGDT & me Dr Strange movie, because I wanted to write Clea so badly after 1602. — Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 27, 2015
Busiek and Gaiman's epic conversations continued as the former elaborated on the issue behind Marvel trademarks and the vast storyline that they can explore in "Doctor Strange."
The outlet then took us back in the past when news about Gaiman and Del Toro's supposed collaboration first surfaced.
In 2008, Gaiman told the defunct Premiere website about his conversation with Del Toro at the set of "Hellboy II." Gaiman said that he was in talks with Marvel for the project and relayed the news to Del Toro, who was also interested on "Doctor Strange."
Unfortunately, it seems that Marvel passed on the movie that could have been made. Del Toro, at that time, was too busy on his "supposed" projects on "The Hobbit" movies and "Hellboy II."
Del Toro loosely explained his own take on the "Doctor Strange" character in an interview with Empire in the same year. However, he then backtracked his previous statement when he was interviewed by Collider in 2012.
"When Neil Gaiman was visiting Hellboy II, he literally said, 'Wouldn’t it be cool to do Dr. Strange together?' and I said, 'Yeah that would be cool.' (laughs) That was the extent of the discussion, and then four or five weeks later it was like 'Neil Gaiman and Guillermo Developing Dr. Strange for Marvel,' and Marvel had never heard of that development and neither have I," Guillermo said.
Marvel's "Doctor Strange" stars Benedict Cumberbatch ("Sherlock," "The Imitation Game"), Chiwetel Ejiofor ("12 Years A Slave") as Baron Mordo and Tilda Swinton ("Only Lovers Left Alive") as the Ancient One with Rachel McAdams ("The Notebook") and Mad Mikkelsen ("Hannibal").
"Doctor Strange" will premiere on Nov. 4, 2016.
