Before the MCU became the giant it is today, a secret Doctor Strange movie was created in 1992 that you probably never heard of. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange is the definitive live-action adaptation of the Marvel Comics mainstay, with Strange’s MCU story now being one of the most central in the current Multiverse Saga. By now, the character is privy to the MCU’s most mind-bending narratives and visuals, which are befitting of his entire MO. Previous live-action iterations of Doctor Strange, however, weren’t quite as much of a spectacle.
Custom image by Ollie Bradley
The first attempt to bring Doctor Strange to live-action was in the 1978 television movie, Dr. Strange starring Peter Hooten and Jessica Walter. Although Stan Lee, who worked on the movie as a consultant, equated it to The Incredible Hulk in terms of quality, critics disagreed. Doctor Strange would then ostensibly remain unadapted until 2016 debuted Cumberbatch in the titular role – but that was nearly not the case.
1992’s Doctor Mordrid Movie Was Supposed To Be About Doctor Strange
Doctor Mordrid is a superhero B-movie released by Full Moon Features, a studio once known for producing such similarly low-budget productions as Puppet Master and Demonic Toys. Though obscure, the eponymous character will look familiar to Marvel fans. Doctor Mordrid is a wizard tasked with staving off interdimensional threats through spells and sorcery at his command.
Though several tweaks, such as Mordrid’s personality, origin, and appearance, work to differentiate the character from Strange, the movie was originally intended to be another Doctor Strange adaptation 14 years after the first and 24 years before the most recent.
| Doctor Strange’s MCU Appearances | Year |
|---|---|
| Doctor Strange | 2016 |
| Thor: Ragnarok | 2017 |
| Avengers: Infinity War | 2018 |
| Avengers: Endgame | 2019 |
| Spider-Man: No Way Home | 2021 |
| Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | 2022 |
This is according to screenwriter Alex Cox, who detailed in a now-archived blog that he had worked on a Doctor Strange script in 1989 with Stan Lee. In Cox’s own words:
“It was almost made by an LA company called Regency. But they distributed via Warner Bros, who were in a dispute with Marvel Comics over merchandising, and Warners nixed it.”
Distribution rights for Marvel’s superheroes were at their most chaotic around the ’80s and ’90s, eventually giving rise to the complicated state of affairs that still prevents Marvel Studios from distributing Spider-Man movies. Doctor Mordrid was therefore the result of rewriting a Doctor Strange story to skirt around copyright issues when the rights weren’t approved. That said, plenty of similarities remain.
Doctor Mordrid Still Is A Doctor Strange Movie In Many Ways
Doctor Mordrid is a suave yet understated character who diverts significantly from the typically egoistical and grandiose Doctor Strange of Marvel Comics. Furthermore, Mordrid is penned as an entity from another dimension who is over 150 years old rather than a gifted human surgeon from Earth who stumbled upon sorcery while attempting to remedy his broken hands. Mordrid and Strange are also superficially distinct, as Mordrid shirks the garish high-collared crimson cloak for a far more toned-down blue robe.
Nevertheless, there are stark similarities where they count. Mordrid is a wizard – a designation that Strange is quick to redress in the MCU, but colloquially synonymous with “sorcerer” all the same. Furthermore, Doctor Mordrid embarks on a journey across dimensions as the titular hero attempts to stave off an invasion from interdimensional beings – which is just as applicable to 2016’s Doctor Strange. A mystical stone even sits at the center of both stories, with Doctor Mordrid’s being the Philosopher’s Stone, whereas Doctor Strange hinges largely on the Time Stone.
How A 1992 Doctor Strange Movie Could’ve Changed Marvel’s Movie Landscape
Marvel had yet to establish a foothold in live-action cinema in 1992, which happened to be the same year that Tim Burton’s iconic Batman Returns was released. Consequently, if Doctor Mordrid had stuck to the original script, it may have been Marvel’s breakout movie of the 1990s, an accolade that would go instead to Wesley Snipes’ Blade trilogy. A 1992 Doctor Strange could have been the launchpad from which movies like Spider-Man and X-Men might have followed. The fact that this wasn’t the case, however, was probably for the best.
Blade remains one of Marvel’s most beloved live-action adaptations, even if its sequels failed to stick the same landing. The same can be said for 2000s X-Men and 2002’s Spider-Man, both of which were recently honored in modern MCU movies. Had 1992’s poorly received Doctor Mordrid been Marvel’s breakout attempt instead, the future of Marvel cinema may never have flourished like it did as filmmakers might have considered the genre to be anything but bankable. Ultimately, Marvel’s cinematic foray into the occult was best placed in the hands of Blade and picked up on by Cumberbatch’s Strange post-millennium.
