Marvel rules the world. Or it did. There is very little doubt that Black Widow won’t come storming into theatres and lighting a fire under the theatrical experience once again, but you never know. It’s always
interesting when Marvel has an upcoming property they aren’t exactly sure about, fresh if not yet given the cinematic treatment, to see which writers and directors they hand the reigns to. More often than not
these days, it’s a pretty exciting talent, a Taika Waititi or Chloé Zhao, who gets pushed around enough for Disney to maintain their iron clad Cinematic Universe’s universal style, but manages to inject just enough of a change to keep fans of the franchise involved.
Such was the case with Dr. Strange, on paper a pretty hokey story for the MCU, but whose minor toe dips into surreal imagery, mixed with the stock and standard Iron Man douche to douchey hero plot made for an exciting but safe development for the series. Make no mistake, writing under the restrictions of the almighty corporate overlords takes skill, and giving fans exactly what they want, and just enough of what they didn’t know they needed, that takes talent. If the walls of Kevin Feige’s office could talk.
But we have the next best thing! Writer for Doctor Strange C. Robert Cargill is hosted for an interview by the Double Toasted crew and gives an insider’s perspective on working on the film. Cargill is an upfront, excitable and generous guest, and the Double Toasted crew have interviewed him before for the comparatively smaller Insidious film, so there’s far less of the phony interview quality we’ve come to expect from the highly trained Marvel Media Machine.
Take one of the very first questions: The narrative is that the reason Marvel is so successful is because they come in and take control of everything, hence Edgar Wright leaving, do you find that sentiment to be true? Naturally, Cargill disagrees, and though it’s clear something must have happened to make Wright feel stifled, Cargill goes on to explain the style of oversight the studio specializes in, and the Walt Disney mantra that inspired it.
Apparently the studio also sometimes requests variations on a scene, playing around with how to come at the story beat, until they find the approach they like best. Cargill also muses on the importance of being
kept in line as a writer, of having people who are able to earnestly tell you when something can be improved on, especially on mega-budget features. Some writers become successful enough to allow those people who call them out to fall away, and that’s when they no longer think as critically about their work.
From working under the Head Hydra Kevin Feige, to having to deal with Christopher Nolan pinching much of Strange’s origin story, for more insight into the process of co-writing Dr. Strange, watch the video above.