With Marvel's Phase 3 finally underway, the next big thing for the superhero giant will be a trip into the mystical realm with this fall's Doctor Strange. The Benedict Cumberbatch fronted origin story will take Stephen Strange on a dark and (wait for the pun) strange adventure into the world of magic and sorcery, and bring him face to face with some truly menacing forces. However, darkness doesn't inherently mean humorless. Doctor Strange will most certainly feature plenty of laughs, and according to Mads Mikkelsen, they will come from a very specific place.
Speaking with Digital Spy, Mads Mikkelsen explained that Doctor Strange would most certainly feature the humor we have come to expect from Marvel. He said:
You can't bring [the humor] yourself, if it's in the script you have to sort of lean into the script that's already there. There is some. My character is not necessarily carrying too much of it, but Doctor Strange is. There's a certain darkness in the Doc and a sense of humor in there, absolutely.
So while we can likely expect quite a bit of humor when Doctor Strange hits theaters, we shouldn't expect Mads Mikkelsen's Kaecilius to crack jokes of his own, which makes sense as he's pretty much born to play the baddest of bad guys. There's plenty of humor in the script, but much of it comes directly from the titular Sorcerer Supreme himself. As a brilliant and gifted surgeon who tragically loses the use of his hands in an accident, Stephen Strange seems to have developed an incredible sense of gallows humor, which likely exists as a sort of defense mechanism to protect himself against his own inherent darkness.
Given what we know about the star of Doctor Strange, none of this should surprise us. Benedict Cumberbatch found himself thrust into the public eye for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on the hit BBC series Sherlock, and part of the charm of that character came from Cumberbatch's ability to expertly execute dark, wry humor. He'll almost certainly bring that same level of charm to the character and present a stark contrast to Mads Mikkelsen's villainous persona.
Marvel has very clearly picked up on the idea that modern superhero movie audiences want humor in their adventures. While movies like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Thor: The Dark World have drawn criticisms for their overall dour tones, movies like Deadpool and even Captain America: Civil War have often drawn immense levels of praise for balancing proper character-based humor with genuinely compelling drama. No matter how dark Doctor Strange gets, it's simply in Marvel's best interest to alleviate the tension with a good laugh here and there.
Check out the trailer for Doctor Strange below:
With the promise of humor and drama in equal measure, it looks like Marvel will keep the Phase 3 momentum going at least through the end of the year. We will keep you posted regarding any and all updates related to the Sorcerer Supreme's debut adventure; Doctor Strange will hit theaters on November 4.
