Acting for Two: In addition to portraying the title character, Benedict Cumberbatch supplies his voice and the motion capture for Dormammu, whose only physical appearance is while Strange is confronting him, although a different actor's voice was blended in to Cumberbatch's to make it harder to tell it was him.
Actor-Inspired Element: The scene where the Cloak of Levitation wipes away Strange's tears wasn't in the original script. On the day they were filming the scene, Cumberbatch suggested the idea to the producer, who burst out laughing and liked it so much he directed the special effects crew to make it happen.
Benedict Cumberbatch spent his gap year teaching English at a Tibetan monastery in Darjeeling, India, which he has acknowledged is similar to Strange's Himalayan origin story.
Ascended Fancast: Benedict Cumberbatch was the people's choice for the role of Stephen Strange, since he had previously played stoic, troubled geniuses in well-known adaptations. The director also agreed, saying Cumberbatch was who they had envisioned for the character, so it was no surprise he ended up playing him.
After the controversial casting of the Ancient One as a white woman, producer Kevin Feige stated that her title is one that many have held throughout history, implying that a more traditional interpretation of the character existed at some point in the MCU's past. While this didn't stop the controversy, it did at least throw fans a bone. Although that's murkier in the film itself, where it's stated that the current holder of the Sorcerer Supreme title is known as the Ancient One because she's held it so long her name has been forgotten and, counterwise, Agamotto was stated to be the first Sorcerer Supreme.
Scott Derrickson explicitly noted that Wong had been rewritten to have considerably fewer Ethnic Menial Labor aspects with the goal of making him a less racially stereotypical character as mentioned below; while his earliest appearances were along the lines of "Asian manservant," in media preceding the movie he's more of a Badass NormalDeadpan Snarker. While the controversy on other decisions remains, this was enough to appease some fans.
Related, but in a preemptive example of this trope, the main reason Wong was included at all is because they knew there would be some backlash against the movie over giving the Ancient One role to a white actress instead of an Asian one. Originally, Derrickson wanted to avoid using Wong altogether.
When Marvel first announced they were preparing for a Doctor Strange film "at some point," Kevin Feige made a few comments about quantum mechanics and laws of probability, and how that weirdness is ground Doctor Strange could explore, leading many fans to be displeased with the idea that Strange's mystic arts would be given a quantum-mechanical-related Techno BabbleHand Wave. In response to fears that the MCU was too reliant on Clarke's Third Law and Science Fantasy, especially with the Thor movies, Word of Godstated that the magic in Doctor Strange would be exactly what it looks like and that there would not be any Doing In the Wizard. Come the trailers, it's clear that this magic is magic.
Scott Derrickson: Magic is magic in this movie. It's not something that's explained away scientifically.
In a franchise-wide example, the reason for Mordo's Adaptational Heroism. Kevin Feige said that Mordo is kind of a Flat Character and Card-Carrying Villain in the comics, and since one of the most frequent criticisms of the MCU is that the bad guys tend to be shallow and bland, they felt it'd be better to introduce Mordo as a hero and then have him become an antagonist in future installments, which everyone felt would make for a more interesting and sympathetic villain.
Although is symptomatic less of Marvel in particular than the entire superhero genre, Scott Derrickson deliberately chose to avoid the cliche "brawl between superpowered beings" climax by having the hero outsmart his enemies, rather than outfight them, specifically by having Strange trap Dormammu in a Stable Time Loop and only releasing him when Dormammu agrees to leave Earth for good.
California Doubling: Averted for the the segments taking place on Nepal, which are really shot there, but played straight for some of the scenes in New York City, which were shot in London, England. Naturally averted with the brief moment taking place in London.
In a 2020 interview, Scott Adkins mentioned that he regrets playing Lucian in the film, as he felt that had he waited a little longer, he could've had a larger role in the MCU at large.
It took several years after the movie's release before Kevin Feige admitted it was a mistake to whitewash The Ancient One, as he realized that it was entirely possible to cast an Asian actor in the role without falling into the wise old asian man stereotype they were avoiding.
While Tilda Swinton didn't regret playing The Ancient One (and would in fact reprise the role in both Avengers: Endgame and What If...?), she felt sympathy towards the backlash, and towards Feige's own regrets over casting her in the role.
A minor example; Scott Derrickson was initially critical of the decision to add the IMAX-formatted version of the film to Disney+, saying it was never intended for home viewing. After reviewing how the format played on his TV, he changed his mind, though he still prefers the non-IMAX formatting.
The Danza: Coincidentally. The character was named Wong long before Benedict Wong was cast.
Deleted Role: Child actor Lulu Wilson filmed a few scenes as Donna Strange but the character was cut from the final product. She is briefly mentioned in the sequel.
Dyeing for Your Art: Benedict Cumberbatch hit the gym and went on a strict diet to suitably bulk up for the role.
Executive Meddling: Zigzagged. In one interview, Writer C. Robert Cargill claimed that the decision to change Strange's origin story from taking place in Tibet to Nepal and the Race Lift of the Ancient One was done to avoid the film being Banned in China, since Chinese censors are notoriously touchy about Tibet and because China is very key part of the overseas market for Hollywood films. However, he later tweeted that political pressure from China was speculation on his part, while Kevin Feige responded that the Ancient One's casting was not affected by political reasons. Cargill defended the decision, noting that there was no "good" option regarding the casting of the Ancient One, claiming that if they had gone with an Asian actor or actress, then the character would have been seen as a racist stereotype. This is supported by Scott Derrickson's director's commentary, where he noted that having The Ancient One played by an Asian actor would have invoked either the Magical Asian or Dragon Lady tropes, and he was already concerned about Wong's roots as an Ethnic Menial Labor character.
Master Hamir is potentially Chinese, as his character is Chinese in the comics. His actor is Indonesian.
Benedict Wong is a British actor of Hong Kong Chinese descent, while his character Wong is Nepalese in the film.
In Memoriam: A dedication of scenic painter Dave Stapleton appears in the film's end credits.
Missing Trailer Scene: Underplayed, as several scenes were changed between the trailer and the film:
In the trailer, Strange walks backwards into the Mirror Dimension; in the film, he follows the Ancient One inside the proper way.
The line "how did you become a doctor" is changed to "How did you get to reattach severed nerves and put a human spine together bone by bone".
Kaecilius' line "I am death and pain" is absent from the movie altogether, as is Ancient One's "I've spent years peering through time, looking for you."
Wong's "Be careful which path you travel down, Strange. Stronger men than you have lost their way" line from the 2nd trailer is not in the film.
Playing with Character Type: Tilda Swinton often plays eerie androgynous characters, many of which turn out to be treacherous. The Ancient One appears benevolent but soon the question is raised as to whether or not she can be trusted. It turns out she can and she's only Good Is Not Nice at worst.
Promoted Fanboy: Downplayed, as Benedict Wong was not familiar with the comics before his friend Chiwetel starting telling him about the project, but became enamored with the character Wong since the role literally had his name on it.
Schedule Slip: The film was going to be part of Phase 2, but when Benedict Cumberbatch's schedule wouldn't allow for it, the crew wanted him for the role so much that they delayed production until he could do it.
Short Run in Peru: The movie was released in many countries a week before its US release.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Chiwetel Ejiofor had previously worked alongside each other in 12 Years a Slave.
The year before this, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong appeared together in The Martian.
Amy Landecker was cast to play a very small part in one of the opening scenes opposite Michael Stuhlbarg because director Scott Derrickson was a fan of them together in A Serious Man.
Throw It In!: Rachel McAdams's startled reaction in the broom closet was genuine, since the mop handle fell completely by accident, and scared McAdams almost out of her skin. Scott Derrickson decided to keep the reaction in the film, since she never broke character.
Joaquin Phoenix was approached for the part of Stephen Strange when Benedict Cumberbatch initially turned down the offer. However, Phoenix dropped out of the project due to his reluctance to take on a multi-film franchise.
Jessica Chastain was approached for the role of Christine Palmer before the casting of Rachel McAdams, but turned down the offer due to her insistence on portraying a character with superpowers. Chastain was previously considered for Maya Hansen and Hope Van Dyne in Iron Man 3 and Ant-Man respectively. Chastain would go on to portray Vuk in Dark Phoenix.
Scott Derrickson briefly considered casting an Asian actress as the Ancient One, but was worried this would make the character seem like a Dragon Lady.
Tony Todd was almost cast as Dormammu at one point, a backup plan in case they didn't use Benedict's voice recording.
Neil Gaiman and Guillermo del Toro pitched a Doctor Strange movie back in 2007, but Marvel passed on the project because Doctor Strange was considered a low-priority character at the time.
Scott Derrickson wanted Nightmare to be the main villain, but Kevin Feige argued that introducing the Dream Dimension would require too much additional Exposition in a film that was already full of it.
Benedict Cumberbatch originally wasn't sure if he would be able to star in the film, due to commitments to a production of Hamlet - as the film's original release was set for July 2016. When it was pushed back to November, he was able to come on board.
Wong was originally not going to appear at all, as Scott Derrickson was uncomfortable with the racist stereotypes surrounding the character. However, he changed his mind after the decision was made to Race Lift the Ancient One, as he was now worried about the fact that there were no Asian characters in a movie that takes place largely in Asia.
Originally the film was to feature a prologue set in CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, aka the European Organization for Nuclear Research) and would feature a discussion on parallel dimensions. The filmmakers felt this was too scientific for a magic-based story, and removed it.
The property master Barry Gibbs revealed that the Ebony Blade was meant to appear in the movie, alongside the other relics conserved in the New York Sanctum.
That was going to go into a book called the Lexicon of Relics, but the Ebony Blade was taken out of the script. I don't quite know why. Again, as things evolved, it wasn't pertinent to the script. Things just moved on.
In an early draft of the movie, Doctor Strange was meant to become the Sorcerer Supreme by the end of the movie, but Derrickson and his crew had many problems with that.
In concept art, the Chamber of Relics the Screaming Idol was featured.
Co-Writer C. Robert Cargill revealed on his podcast Junkfood Cinema that he suggested cameos for Jeffrey Combs and the late Dick Miller, but ultimately was unsuccessful in securing them. Combs had previously starred in Doctor Mordrid which started as a Doctor Strange film.
As this film starting shooting at roughly the same time that the MCU was restructured (the script had also been long finished), this is the last film in the franchise to be produced under the old structure of Marvel Studios being a division of Marvel itself. Every movie since has been developed as a separate division of Disney proper’s live action umbrella with no input from the executives at Marvel. note Prior to August 2015, Kevin Feige’s boss was (now retired) Marvel CEO Isaac Perlmutter. Perlmutter was infamous for being cheap and overriding Feige’s creative decisions. The tension finally came to a head on the set of Captain America: Civil War when Perlmutter tried to cut Robert Downey Jr. out at the last second because of his salary. Feige went to Alan Horn, the head of Disney’s live action group, and threatened to quit if he didn’t get out from Perlmutter. Horn gave Feige what he wanted and now Marvel Studios is a division of Disney rather than of Marvel. Horn is now Feige’s boss instead of Perlmutter.
to make it harder to tell it was him.