‘Doctor Strange’ Debuts Latest TV Spot with New Footage, Photograph Features Closer at Eye of Agamotto; Director Says Film’s Magic to Remain Mysterious

‘Doctor Strange’ recently debuted its latest television spot with new footage of Benedict Cumberbatch in action as the titular superhero. A new still also offered a closer look at the Eye of Agamotto in action. Meanwhile, director Scott Derrickson said that magic featured in the film will remain mysterious and will not be explained.

According to the Independent, the first ever television spot for the upcoming ’Doctor Strange’ standalone film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has recently been released featuring new footage of Benedict Cumberbatch as the Sorcerer Supreme and Mads Mikkelsen as his nemesis Kaecilius. It also showed Stephen Strange schooled in the mystic arts by Tilda Swinton’s gender-bending The Ancient One.

Meanwhile, a new still also featured a closer look at the powers of Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto, a relic known to possess the magical properties including manipulation of probabilities. In the original comic books, the Eye of Agamotto is one of the three “eyes” created by Agamotto placed in the care of Eternity. It was finally given to Doctor Strange to aid him in his battle with the sinister mystical being Dormammu.

According to Games Radar, the new image was revealed via Reddit. It featured Doctor Strange wielding its power. During a previous interview, Marvel President Kevin Feige explained the Eye of Agamotto’s significance in the film. He said, "In this film, the Eye is a very important relic that can be quite dangerous if used in the wrong hands, because it has the ability to do any number of things, the most dangerous of which is, it can sort of manipulate probabilities. Which is also another way of saying, ‘screw around with time’ — which is part of our story".

Meanwhile, Cumberbatch revealed that his character’s story arc will surprise audiences the most instead of magic and visual effects. He said, “Quite how much he suffers and how extraordinary his willpower is. I think that's his main superhero trait, is that the guy is sort of unstoppably stubborn. He won't cease. And that's great, because you see this character really go through the grinder. It's non-stop punishment for this dude. What he has to become and how quickly he's tested in the new arena that he becomes this person is so violent, so sudden, so non-stop, and psychologically brutal as well as physically very very brutal. It's a huge character arc. So I think that might surprise people.”

Director Scott Derrickson also stressed that magic will not be explained in the upcoming film. According to Dark Horizons, Derrickson said, “Magic is magic in this movie. It’s not something that’s explained away scientifically. It’s not something that’s easy to define. As magic should be. Magic should be mysterious. There’s mystery to magic and there’s mystery to the tone of the movie. Mystery is a good thing.”

‘Doctor Strange’ is an upcoming superhero film based on the Marvel comic book character of the same name. It is produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is scheduled to premiere in the United States on November 4, 2016.