Marvel Studios has a practice of meeting talent way ahead of time to discuss a possible future collaboration, and numerous actors and creators have shared their experiences meeting Marvel headKevin Feigeover the years. Recently,The SandmancreatorNeil Gaimanrevealed onJosh Horowitz’sHappy Sad Confusedpodcast that he once pitched aDoctor Strangemovie set in the 1920s, to the studio withGuillermo del Toroset to direct.
In the recent live podcast, Horowitz inquired about Marvel and DC consulting him about various characters, to which Gaiman said, “Kevin and I have spoken a few times over the years on things.” He went on to share the anecdote that back in 2007 he had a “minimalistic conversation" with Feige and “starting the beginning of the conversation with Kevin about ‘I could do Doctor Strange with Guillermo.'” He further revealed that the studio reasoned with him as they “just want to concentrate on the core characters right now. Doctor Strange is way up the line. We don’t want to go there.'”
Back in 2007, Marvel Studio was in a tight spot to launch the movies based on the characters they owned at the moment. Iron Man turned out to be the breakout character withRobert Downey Jras the titular character andJon Favreauat the helm. It propelled the Marvel Cinematic Universe withChris Evans’ Captain America andChris Hemsworth’s Thor joining Iron Man to become the big three of the franchise.Benedict Cumberbatchas Doctor Strange finally made his debut in 2016 so certainly, Gaiman was years ahead of Marvel with his pitch. He further revealed that his pitch had some really “cool things.” He also went on to share his favorite idea: “the one thing that we really wanted to do was have his adventures, have him become an alcoholic and a disbarred physician, all that sort of stuff, happen in the 1920s.”
RELATED:‘Echo’ Star Alaqua Cox Confirms Filming Has Wrapped on MCU Series
Further elaborating, Gaiman revealed that they wanted the Sorcerer Supreme to be a man “out of time:
“So the idea is that he went through all of that and the training to become the world’s greatest magician maybe in the early ’30s, late ’20s, and he’s been living in Greenwich Village for 90 years looking the same in his place, and nobody really notices. We just sort of liked that idea, and he would have been sort of out of time. But other than that, it would have just been very sort ofSteve Ditkobecause, you know, that’s the best."
Gaiman also noted that he thinks “the way they did it commercially was better.” The film finally went toScott Derricksonand went on to make $677.8 million at the box office. However, he stepped down from the sequelDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesswhich was then helmed bySam Raimi.
BothDoctor Strangemovies are streaming on Disney+, while you’re able to seeThe Sandmanon Netflix. Meanwhile, you can check out the full podcast episode with Gaiman below:
