The Inception vibes in this first teaser for Marvel’s Doctor Strange are real. The November release, from director Scott Derrickson, is full of fascinating and mind-bending imagery and a tight little introduction to the Sorcerer Supreme.
The teaser debuted earlier this evening on Jimmy Kimmel Live and will run in theaters alongside the May 2 release of Captain America: Civil War, among others. It features Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular doctor, Chiwetel Ejiofor as his frenemy Bardon Mordo and a bald Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One.
It’s a film that Marvel has been touting as a huge departure, at leas visually, from the rest of its cinematic universe. Part of a year that will transition the MCU into a new era. Civil War is going to shake up the dynamic between the characters we know while Doctor Strange introduces us to a whole new world (or more accurately, many worlds). The basics are here: Stephen Strange, a talented surgeon, wakes up from a horrific car accident to find that his world — the reality we know as our own — is one of many that exist. With the help of The Ancient One, he learns the mystical arts and a mastery of these many dimensions.
Watch the trailer below, then we’ll do a little GIF breakdown:
“You’re a man looking at the world through a keyhole.”
Here’s a shot of Strange in the hospital following his accident. His hands — a surgeon’s most prominent tools — look very gnarly.
At this point, we hear Benedict Cumberbatch’s first lines as Stephen Strange. His American accent is slightly jarring at first but ultimately works just fine. A moment later, we’re introduced to the bald, fierce Tilda Swinton, who shows him a little bit of mystical fighting. She’s outside The Matrix, that one.
We also get a shot at Mads Mikkelson’s antagonist. He’s still an unnamed character — it’s speculated that he’s either Nightmare or Dormammu, but he doesn’t exactly look like either — but he’s got a very vivid, tribal look to him, and he’s clearly a formidable sorcerer.
Here’s a look at his face.
A very brief shot of Baron Mordo.
And a little bit of Stephen Strange traveling between realms.
And some stuff that would make Christopher Nolan very happy.
And as a final parting shot for a teaser trailer that is flat out excellent, we get a little taste of the caped final version of Doctor Strange. Clearly The Ancient One obliged his request to be taught.
Doctor Strange is in theaters on November 4.
