The Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken us to some pretty strange places so far: a rich arms dealer making a robotic suit of armour to fight international terrorism, a doctor with a serious anger management problem, a frozen soldier awakened fifty years later, an archer who for some reason is expected to keep up with a group of people with actual superpowers. Things are set to get even more odd once they race through the "doorway" into the supernatural parts of the Marvel Universe in the form of Doctor Strange. Most of the information about the film so far has been speculation on who will take the title role of the Sorcerer Supreme, with everyone from Joaquin Phoenix to Ewan McGregor to Ryan Gosling apparently up for the part. Between those superstars being installed in the eponymous hero's shoes and safe bet Scott Derrickson (whose 2012 horror flick Sinister was a surprise hit) in the director's chair, Marvel Studios are making sure audiences will have plenty of reasons to go see Doctor Strange. But besides the star power behind it, how much do we actually know about the character? Not a lot? Not to worry. The character has a fifty year history in the comic books, but that's going to be heavily condensed for the cinema screen - or, if you want to be ahead of the curve, you can consult this potted history of ten things you need to know about Doctor Strange.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
