Sybilline Speedtext
There is a certain flavor to classic Doctor Strange comics which make him stand out among the other Marvel heroes. Even if his stories were never among the brand’s topsellers, most of them are so ludicrous and yet so entrancing it is almost impossible not to be reminded of the magic of pulp more than in any other comic book in the super hero mainstream.
As a writer in project myself, I am becoming more and more intrigued by the pulp tradition of fantasy storytelling, perhaps more due to my own predisposition to nostalgia than truly objective assessments.
But it is true than for a time like ours, where technology seems to lay before us such a complete landscape of knowledge and possibilities, ironically our imagination seems so much more minute and feeble when compared to the visionaries of times before the advent of the internet.
What could only be known as today’s "video culture" appears to milimetrically dictate the limits to our mind’s image-conjuring faculties. Blessed be them who might have managed to enjoy Steve Ditko’s comics before the inception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for only they might have witnessed Doctor Strange’s magic in its purest form.
I’m by no means an "MCU hater", I have often expressed my admiration for many of the films in that series, despite the many times the filmmakers have indulged to ideology in certain places, especially in the more recent times. However, there is an untapped potential when it comes to Doctor Strange and his world. A kind of magic we’ve never truly seen on screen as of yet. But there is still hope.
The Doctor Strange sequel helmed by Sam Raimi is without a doubt my most anticipated film of next year. The most recent Spider-Man film proved to me that at the moment the MCU is a veritable battleground in the war for storytelling. A war which may decide the triumph or defeat of this the most ancient of arts against the perfidious grip of ideology.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (which I often call Dr. Strange 2 for short), as seen on the teaser trailer, looks to be a bit of a mess, but it is apparent enough how much creative passion has been thrown onto it by the filmmaking team.
Of course we will never know until we get a better glimpse at what the story will look like, but for now I shall content myself with the thought - although laughable, even considering the bliss that Spider-Man: No Way Home has been to me -, that the filmmakers know what they are doing, at least this once. And that perhaps we may still see and feel a Doctor Strange that’s truly wondrous and supreme.
