Later this year, the Marvel Cinematic Universe gets full on supernatural with the arrival of Doctor Strange accompanied with a healthy serving of all things mystical. Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Dr Stephen Strange in the eagerly awaited movie, but did you know that almost 40 years ago a previous attempt was made to bring the good Doctor to our screens.
Many of the elements from the comic book were altered to suit the budgetary limitations of a TV movie, and it shows big time as even by the 70s modest standards, this is some tacky plop. Peter Hooten (who looks like a science experiment to harness the sex appeal of Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg in one mortal man) stars as Stephen Strange, and yes that is Arrested Development’s Jessica Walter!
Marvel might be a powerhouse in the movie industry today, but there a no shortage of misfires buried in their back garden. For example, the 1990 Captain America TV movie, Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD starring David Hasselhoff and that 1994 Fantastic Four movie that was made purely to retain the rights to the characters. At least that hatefully bad 90s attempt was upfront about the reasons it was made, unlike Fox’s recent reboot that had no direction and didn’t think a coherent script was important.
Doctor Strange is released in cinemas everywhere on November 4.
