History Awesome / DoctorStrange2016

* The Cloak Of Levitation. Between it viciously beating the shit out of a zealot, being a SilentSnarker JerkWithAHeartOfGold to Doctor Strange combined with its unflinching loyalty to him [[note]]All those many deaths Strange suffers against Dormammu? It suffers through it all alongside him.[[/note]], quite a few people found themselves loving the cloak more than Strange himself. And as seen on this very page, that's not a mark of how bad Strange is, it's a mark of how well-written the cloak is. To reiterate: Marvel made a movie where a piece of clothing is people's favorite character.
* Strange having Christine supercharge his astral form with a defibrillator to hit a Zealot so hard that his soul explodes, killing him.

* In their first battle, Kaecilius easily slams Strange across the New York Sanctum, smashing him through cases of artifacts. One is the Cloak of Levitation, which acts on its own to stop Kaecilius from delivering the death blow. Kaecilius throws Strange off a balcony...and after a pause, Strange floats up, Cloak billowing behind him, the spitting image of the comic book character at last.

** Not how many words have been expended on this short sequence. People love this. And they love it for good reason. Yet it has a serious depth to it. The "I can do this again. And again. And again." Consider Creator/AlbertCamus. "One has to imagine Sisyphus happy." The pain, the struggle, the pointlessness... our ''choice'' is the point. Strange has finally found a purpose. Not merely a fear of failure, but something to strive for. Again. And again. And again.

* The Cloak Of Levitation. Between it viciously beating the shit out of a zealot, being a SilentSnarker JerkWithAHeartOfGold to Doctor Strange combined with it's unflinching loyalty to him [[note]]All those many deaths Strange suffers against Dormammu? It suffers through it all alongside him.[[/note]], quite a few people found themselves loving the cloak more than Strange himself. And as seen on this very page, that's not a mark of how bad Strange is, it's a mark of how well-written the cloak is. To reiterate: Marvel made a movie where a piece of clothing is people's favorite character.

* Strange having Christine [[spoiler:supercharge his astral form with a defibrillator to hit a Zealot so hard that his soul explodes, killing him.]]
* The last battle against Kaecillius and his zealots takes place as [[spoiler:time is being rewound thanks to the Eye of Agamotto's power, so instead of seeing Hong Kong being destroyed because of the battle, we're actually seeing everybody fight while everything is getting rebuilt around them. And Strange and Mordo are using this to their advantage, trapping their opponents in the reconstructing structures, albeit temporarily.]]

* Strange [[spoiler:trapping himself and Dormammu in an endlessly repeating duel until the abomination agrees to his demands to retreat and never threaten his home again.]]
** [[spoiler:It gets even more awesome when you consider that Strange confronted Dormammu, fully prepared to die and setup the loop to trigger with his own death. Even after [[TheManyDeathsOfYou Strange suffers from being impaled, vaporized, crushed, and many more horrifying deaths]], he keeps coming for more every time. By recognizing his own weakness and surrendering to itself, he was able to find the strength to win against Dormammu.]] It can also be considered hilarious if you picture Dormammu as a gamer who [[spoiler:RageQuit when he found a quest that's impossible to solve due to an infinite loop bug.]]
*** [[spoiler:Or if you flip it and picture Strange as a Gamer who just found out the way to beat [[ThatOneBoss That One Boss]] is to just keep dying until he gives up!]]
---> '''[[spoiler:Dormammu]]''': [[YouHaveNoChanceToSurvive You will never win.]]\\

** [[spoiler:Dormammu]] threatens Strange with [[ToThePain an eternity of agony]] for his audicity, and Strange calmly replies with the utterly [[BadassBoast fearless declaration of defiance:]] "Pain's an old friend."
** Eventually [[spoiler:Dormammu]] can take no more and is ''begging'' him to stop.
---> '''[[spoiler:Dormammu]]:''' No! Stop! ''Make this stop!'' Set me free!
*** To drive the point home: Dr. Strange ''annoys'' an EldritchAbomination into submission. Before it was stated that [[spoiler: Dormammu's]] Dark Dimension has no concept of time. So Strange introduced him to the concept of time and because he didn't understand it, [[spoiler: Dormammu]] couldn't get out of his loop. Doctor Strange [[BeyondTheImpossible did the impossible]] and [[MindRape mind fucked]] [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu the devil into submission.]]
** Strange also becomes the first MCU hero in over a dozen movies who [[spoiler:saves the day not by punching or blasting his opponents, but by outsmarting them.]]
** Remember [[spoiler:[[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger the Red Skull]] touching the Tesseract and disintegrating? Remember the Aether being [[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld barely controlled]] by an EldritchAbomination from the ''darkness before the universe was born??'' Remember the Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy needing all their members to channel the energy of the Power Stone - the one actually touching the stone the son of a '''[[GeniusLoci sapient planet]]!?!''' Well, Stephen Strange, JustOneMan, a PunyEarthling, IncompletelyTrained, is using an Infinity Stone to manipulate time like he was winding a watch, though he doesn't come in direct contact with it. Truly, this is a man to be careful of.]]
** In previous MCU films, we've really only seen [[spoiler: the Infinity Stones used for fairly [[MundaneUtility mundane applications]], generally as a power source for something else (Loki using the Tesseract to power the portal, Ultron using the Mind Stone to power his new body, etc.). For the first time, we're seeing the truly [[RealityWarper reality bending]] powers that these artifacts can unleash.]]
*** Even better is when you consider: [[spoiler: most [[EldritchAbomination eldritch horrors]] manipulate time and space and regularly tell our laws of physics to go fuck themselves by simply existing. Doctor Strange used ''our'' laws of time and space to '''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu MAKE SUCH A BEING BEG FOR MERCY]]''']].

** Not just an [[spoiler: EldritchAbomination]] but the closest thing the MCU has (or has shown, rather) to the [[spoiler:devil.]] To reiterate. he made the [[spoiler:eternal keeper and tormentor of souls]] not only beg him for mercy, but bargain for his ''own'' freedom.
** Another thing to note - in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', Captain America talked about how a hero must be willing to [[HeroicSacrifice take one for the team]]. Strange wins by [[spoiler:being willing to take one for the team several times a minute, every minute, ''for as long as it took to make Dormammu give up.'' Because as long as the abomination is killing him, it can't harm anyone else. Don't forget, ''time is not moving forward'' - if he ''ever'' faltered, Dormammu would still claim Earth, and Strange wouldn't have delayed it by a single moment. "Laying on a wire and letting the other guy crawl over you" is something most would only have to do '''once'''. Strange -- '''knowingly''' -- did exactly that ''until the monster got tired of killing him'']]. He might not be an official member of the Avengers yet, but he's earned his spot.
** So, to sum it all up: [[spoiler: Doctor Strange demonstrated himself in this scene to be quite possibly the single most badass character in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. First of all, he waltzes right up to [[EldritchAbomination Dormammu]] and brazenly declares that he has come to bargain, which is so astonishingly presumptuous that it's tantamount to [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu insulting him]]. Dormammu (of course) [[CurbstompBattle swiftly kills him]], only for the good Doctor to come right back and declare that he has come to bargain once again. As Dormammu proceeds to [[TheManyDeathsOfYou kill him again and again]], it slowly becomes clear that when Doctor Strange says, "Dormammu, I've come to bargain," [[ThatWasntARequest it's not a request]]. It's an ''ultimatum''. Those five little words become the ultimate BadassBoast; not only does Doctor Strange, a mere mortal, [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu have Dormammu trapped as his prisoner]], he also demonstrates staggering [[NervesOfSteel resilience]] in being willing to endure many, many, ''many'' gruesome deaths to defend the Earth, [[AndIMustScream possibly for all of eternity]]. WordOfGod is that Dormammu killed Strange ''millions'' of times, not just the handful that were depicted on-screen. In the words "Dormammu, I've come to bargain," Strange pulls off a XanatosGambit in the form of [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse an offer Dormammu can't refuse]]: he can either retreat and abandon his siege upon the Earth, or he can be a ''mortal man's'' prisoner in his own tiny little time-loop of a hell forever.]] Quite possibly one of the most awesome moments to date in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.
* A subtle one in the first [[TheStinger stinger]]: [[spoiler: Strange casually mentions to Thor that he keeps a list of other dimensional visitors to Earth, showing that he has definitely taken over for the Ancient One, and changes Thor's drink into an automatically refilling beer mug as they talk. He does nothing close to this during the movie and achieves it here without so much as a twitch of his fingers.]]
** He is also ''finally'' wearing his iconic yellow gloves, showing that he has indeed become the Doctor Strange we all know and love.

* The Cape Of Levitation. Between it beating the shit out of a zealot and being a SilentSnarker to Doctor Strange, quite a few people found themselves loving the cape more than Strange himself. And as seen on this very page, that's not a mark of how bad Strange is, it's a mark of how well-written the cape is. To reiterate: Marvel made a movie where a piece of clothing is people's favorite character.

[[folder:Meta]]
* The film has earned itself a respectable 90% on Rotten Tomatoes after 250 reviews with only 24 of them turning out rotten. The fact it was able to keep up with its [[ToughActToFollow critically acclaimed predecessor]], ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', is an incredible accomplishment, especially considering its outlandish magic setting.
** In fact, if one was paying attention to how the last 50-or-so reviews were dropping, there were times where it came dangerously close to the 89% mark whenever a rotten review was released only to rise up to possibly reaching 91% again due to a new batch of positive reviews being added in return. Basically, it's been a war for the movie to stay in the 90% league.
* This is the film that took Disney past the 6 billion dollar mark in 2016, setting a new cumulative box office record in the process. The film itself rocketed past the 500 million mark in less than a month despite, [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy yet]] [[Film/AntMan again]], being based on a lesser-known Marvel property and is...unusual, to the say the least..
* Fittingly for a film based around manipulating time, history repeats itself. Much like [[WTHCastingAgency Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr.]] before him, Benedict Cumberbatch being cast as Doctor Strange caused a bit of an uproar, as there were those who thought him an overly safe choice, too bland, or just felt he was a poor choice for the Sorcerer Supreme. However, once the movie came out, tunes changed quickly, as Cumberbatch was lauded for his portrayal of Strange, being able to effectively capture both the good doctor's egotism and heroism.
** Ejiofor likewise earned well-deserved praise for his portrayal of Mordo, elevating the character from a one-note villain to a complex character who struggles with divided loyalties to his friends and his moral code. A number of fans considered him the best part of the movie and are hoping he shows up somewhere before the Doctor Strange sequel.
* Director Scott Derrickson is a big fan of Doctor Strange, and ''spent his own money'' on a concept video he pitched to Marvel so that he could get the job of directing the film. Talk about DoingItForTheArt.
* One for Hong Kong audiences in general -- for the first time since ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Hong Kong is shown ''realistically''. No [[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction red lanterns]] or [[Series/{{Arrow}} modifications to make it look like Chinatown]] -- rather, [[spoiler: the final battle takes place]] on a completely normal looking street, with authentic neon signs and traditional food shops. Even though the entire street was merely a set, it proves that the filmmakers really did [[ShownTheirWork do their research]].
[[/folder]]

*** Another way to put it: to [[spoiler:Dormammu]], [[HumansAreCthulhu Strange IS]] the EldritchAbomination.

** Ejiofor likewise earned well-deserved praise for his portrayal of Mordo, elevating the character from a one-note villain to a complex character who struggles with divided loyalties to his friends and his moral code. A number of fans considered him the best part of the movie and are hoping he shows up somewhere before the 2020 Doctor Strange sequel.

*** Even better is when you consider: [[spoiler: most [[EldritchAbomination eldritch horrors]] manipulate time and space and regularly tell our laws of physics to go fuck themselves by simply existing. Doctor Strange used ''our'' laws of time and space to '''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu MAKE SUCH A BEING BEG FOR MERCY]]''']]. Holy. Shit.

* One for Hong Kong audiences in general -- for the first time since ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Hong Kong is shown ''realistically''. No [[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction red lanterns]] or [[Series/{{Arrow}} modifications to make it look like Chinatown]] -- rather, [[spoiler: the final battle takes place]] on a completely normal looking street, with authentic neon signs and traditional food shops. Even though the entire street was merely a set, it proves that the filmmakers really did [[ShownTheirWork do their research]].

*** Even better is when you consider; [[spoiler: Most [[EldritchAbomination eldritch horrors]] manipulate time and space and regularly tell our laws of space and time to go fuck themselves by simply existing. Doctor Strange used ''our'' laws of time and space to '''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu MAKE SUCH A BEING BEG FOR MERCY]]''']]. Holy. Shit.

*** Another way to put it: to [[spoiler:Dormammu]], Strange IS the EldritchAbomination.

** In previous MCU films, we've really only seen [[spoiler: the Infinity Stones used for fairly [[MundaneUtility mundane applications]], generally simply as a power source for something else (Loki using the Tesseract to power the portal, Ultron using the Mind Stone to power his new body, etc.). For the first time, we're seeing the truly [[RealityWarper reality bending]] powers that these artifacts can unleash.]]
** Even better is when you consider; [[spoiler: Most [[EldritchAbomination eldritch horrors]] manipulate time and space and regularly tell our laws of space and time to go fuck themselves by simply existing. Doctor Strange used ''our'' laws of time and space to '''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu MAKE SUCH A BEING BEG FOR MERCY]]''']]. Holy. Shit.

** Remember [[spoiler:[[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger the Red Skull]] touching the Tesseract and disintegrating? Remember the Aether being [[ThorTheDarkWorld barely controlled]] by an EldritchAbomination from the ''darkness before the universe was born??'' Remember the Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy needing all their members to channel the energy of the Power Stone - the one actually touching the stone the son of a '''[[GeniusLoci sapient planet]]!?!''' Well, Stephen Strange, JustOneMan, a PunyEarthling, IncompletelyTrained, is using an Infinity Stone to manipulate time like he was winding a watch, though he doesn't come in direct contact with it. Truly, this is a man to be careful of.]]

* One for Hong Kong audiences in general-for the first time since ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Hong Kong is shown ''realistically''. No [[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction red lanterns]] or [[Series/{{Arrow}} modifications to make it look like Chinatown]]-rather, [[spoiler: the final battle takes place]] on a completely normal looking street, with authentic neon signs and traditional food shops. Even though the entire street was merely a set, it proves that the filmmakers really did [[ShownTheirWork do their research]].

'''Strange''': No. But I can lose. [[GroundhogDayLoop Again...and again...and again...and again]], [[AndIMustScream forever]]. [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu And that makes you my prisoner]].

---> '''[[spoiler:Dormammu]]''': No! Stop! ''Make this stop!'' Set me free!

** Not just an [[spoiler: EldritchAbomination]] but the closest thing the MCU has(or has shown, rather) to the [[spoiler:devil.]] To reiterate. he made the [[spoiler:eternal keeper and tormentor of souls]] not only beg him for mercy, but bargain for his ''own'' freedom.

** Remember [[spoiler:[[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger the Red Skull]] touching the Tesseract and disintegrating? Remember the Aether being [[ThorTheDarkWorld barely controlled]] by an EldritchAbomination from the ''darkness before the universe was born??'' Remember the Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy needing all their members to channel the energy of the Power Stone - the one actually touching the stone the son of a '''[[GeniusLoci sapient planet]]???''' Well, Stephen Strange, JustOneMan, a PunyEarthling, IncompletelyTrained, is using an Infinity Stone to manipulate time like he was winding a watch, though he doesn't come in direct contact with it. Truly, this is a man to be careful of.]]

** Even better is when you consider; [[spoiler: Most [[EldritchAbomination eldritch horrors]] manipulate time and space and regularly tell our laws of space and time to go fuck themselves by simply existing. Doctor Strange used ''our'' laws of time and space to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu MAKE SUCH A BEING BEG FOR MERCY]]]]. Holy. Shit.

** Not just an [[spoiler: EldritchAbomination]] but the closest thing the MCU has(or has shown, rather) to the [[spoiler: devil.]] To reiterate. he made the [[spoiler:eternal keeper and tormentor of souls]] not only beg him for mercy, but bargain for his ''own'' freedom.
** Another thing to note - in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', Captain America talked about how a hero must be willing to [[HeroicSacrifice take one for the team]]. Strange wins by [[spoiler:being willing to take one for the team several times a minute, every minute, ''for the rest of eternity''. Because as long as Dormammu is killing him, he can't harm anyone else.]] He might not be an official member of the Avengers yet, but he's earned his spot.

** So, to sum it all up: [[spoiler: Doctor Strange demonstrated himself in this scene to be quite possibly the single most badass character in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. First of all, he waltzes right up to [[EldritchAbomination Dormammu]] and brazenly declares that he has come to bargain, which is so astonishingly presumptuous that it's tantamount to [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu insulting him]]. Dormammu (of course) [[CurbstompBattle swiftly kills him]], only for the good Doctor to come right back and declare that he has come to bargain once again. As Dormammu proceeds to [[TheManyDeathsOfYou kill him again and again]], it slowly becomes clear that when Doctor Strange says, "Dormammu, I've come to bargain," [[ThatWasntARequest it's not a request]]. It's an ''ultimatum''. Those five little words become the ultimate BadassBoast; not only does Doctor Strange, a mere mortal, [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu have Dormammu trapped as his prisoner]], he also demonstrates staggering [[NervesOfSteel resilience]] in being willing to endure many, many, ''many'' gruesome deaths to defend the Earth, [[AndIMustScream possibly for all of eternity]]. In the words "Dormammu, I've come to bargain," Strange pulls off a XanatosGambit in the form of [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse an offer Dormammu can't refuse]]: he can either retreat and abandon his siege upon the Earth, or he can be a ''mortal man's'' prisoner in his own tiny little time-loop of a hell forever.]] Quite possibly one of the most awesome moments to date in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.

---> '''[[spoiler:Dormammu]]''': Stop... Stop... ''Make it stop!'' Set me free!

** So, to sum it all up: [[spoiler: Doctor Strange demonstrated himself in this scene to be quite possibly the single most badass character in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. First of all, he waltzes right up to [[EldritchAbomination Dormammu]] and brazenly declares that he has come to bargain, which is so astonishingly presumptuous that it's tantamount to [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu insulting him]]. Dormammu (of course) [[CurbstompBattle swiftly kills him]], only for the good Doctor to come right back and declare that he has come to bargain once again. As Dormammu proceeds to [[TheManyDeathsOfYou kill him again and again]], it slowly becomes clear that when Doctor Strange says, "Dormammu, I've come to bargain," [[ThatWasntARequest it's not a request]]. It's an ''ultimatum''. Those five little words become the ultimate BadassBoast; not only does Doctor Strange, a mere mortal, [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu have Dormammu trapped as his prisoner]], he also demonstrates staggering [[NervesOfSteel resilience]] in being willing to endure many, many, ''many'' gruesome deaths to defend the Earth, [[AndIMustScream possibly for all of eternity]]. In the words "Dormammu, I've come to bargain," Strange pulls off a XanatosGambit in the form of [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse an offer Dormammu can't refuse]]: he can either retreat and abandon his siege upon the Earth, or he can be a ''mortal man's'' prisoner in his own tiny little time-loop of a hell forever.]] Quite possibly one of the most awesome moments to date in the MarvelCinematicUniverse.

*** To drive the point home: Dr. Strange ''annoys'' an EldritchAbomination into submission.
*** He didn't just annoy [[spoiler: Dormammu]] into submission. Before it was stated that [[spoiler: Dormammu's]] Dark Dimension has no concept of time. So Strange introduced him to the concept of time and because he didn't understand it, [[spoiler: Dormammu]] couldn't get out of his loop. Doctor Strange [[BeyondTheImpossible did the impossible]] and [[MindRape mind fucked]] [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu the devil into submission.]]