Two weeks ago I attended the Doctor Strange Press Junket, or rather #DoctorStrangeEvent, I was one of 25 bloggers there for Walt Disney Studios (Disclosure: All-Expenses Paid). We were privileged to interview many of the cast members of the movie as well as director Scott Derrickson. I have never seen a movie directed by Scott Derrickson. He does many horror ones and that is just not my bag. However, what he does with Doctor Strange is incredible, creative and imaginative. There was one moment in the film that felt horror inspired. It works for the film especially because Doctor Strange is so out there as a comic book. We are lucky that this film was in Scott’s hands as he is a true fan of the comic and character which shows in the film. What follows below is our exclusive interview with Scott. He was engaged, excited and entertaining. He also pointed out the one bearded mom in the group. That bearded mom actually got to toss in a question this time around. I’ll point out which one it was.

When Scott walked in he received tremendous applause which was well deserved, see the movie this Friday and you’ll know how well deserved it was. He was pretty energetic and playful in the interview.

Scott Derrickson: This is the greatest panel in the history of panels. This is amazing. Really. This is really cool. I especially like the woman with the beard at the end, there.

Question: Speaking about special effects, can you tell us just how much work went into that?

Scott Derrickson: The visual effects were, it was a long time developing them. It was one of the most creative parts of the whole process. The idea going into it was to use visual effects for a new reason than what you usually get in big event movies. In big event movies, even in Marvel movies, special effects are usually used to destroy things.

It’s about destroying cities because that’s what creates screen stimulus. I just felt committed to the idea of using those big expensive visual effects for something else, something new, something more interesting, and specifically, something trippy, and weird. To give the audience an unexpected experience.

Question: Was there any time that you guys thought about trying to update the movie, something for the modern audience? Or was there always this kind of throwback to the ’60s, the nod, and that trippy LSD type thing going on?

Scott Derrickson: Well the ’60s comics were the primary influence for the movie. Those early Stan Lee, Steve Ditko comics, which were very much products of the ’60s, and the ’60s psychedelia. The weird imagery of the movie is so rooted in the Steve Ditko artwork from that era. I listened to almost nothing but psychedelic rock from that era while I was working on this screenplay. That’s why there’s one Pink Floyd track in there that’s from the first Pink Floyd album, back in their early psychedelic days.

What I wanted to do was to not make a throwback movie, or a nostalgic movie. I didn’t want to try to go back and recapture the ’60s revolution feel. I wanted to have that same mindset of open your mind, expand your mind, see things new. Look at a new aesthetic, and explore possibilities. That was the goal, to take that ’60s mentality, and then bring it into a modern superhero movie. Do it with a character who was about something, hopefully meaningful.

Question : In talking to Tilda this morning, she said to ask you about your choice in choosing a woman for the Ancient one.

Scott Derrickson: That choice was twofold. The first reason was because I was trying to find ways, creative ways, and positive ways, to escape the racial stereotypes from the original comics. They were products of the ’60s for good and bad, those comics. For bad, the Ancient One, and Wong, those two characters were pretty offensive racial stereotypes by modern standards.

Wong’s character, I was able to completely reinvent. I sort of inverted his character. Everything about his character in the comics, I just flipped on its head. Instead of a man servant he’s a master of the mystical arts. Instead of a sidekick, he’s Strange’s intellectual mentor. That was great. With the Ancient One, I couldn’t really do that. The Ancient One, for origin story to work, still had to be a magical, mystical, domineering, martial arts mentor, to Doctor Strange.

So the first thing I wanted to do is make it a woman. I thought, okay, that’s fresh. I did that to get away from the cliché and the stereotype, but I also did that because I wanted a woman Tilda’s age. I wanted a woman who wasn’t the, the 26 year old, tightly leather clad, hot, fan boy dream girl. I wanted to have a real woman in the movie in terms of trying to get diversity in there. I thought about casting an Asian woman. We had lots of discussion about that. But I couldn’t get away from the stereotype of the Dragon Lady. That felt like a trap also. Then I started thinking, well who could bring the ethereal, enigmatic, mystical qualities of the Ancient One, from the comics, that are good? And I was like, Tilda.

Who else could it be? An interesting story about that is that, I was trying to write the role, and it was the one role in the movie that was flat, it was just a flat role. Every version I did of it was just not great. It was not working. When I came up with the idea in my head about Tilda doing it, suddenly the role came to life. I wrote it, without her knowing anything about the movie, or knowing that I was interested in her doing it, I wrote it for her, and it was great. I remember what room I was in. I remember bringing the script to Kevin, and handing it to him, saying, okay, this role is great now, but it has to be Tilda Swinton that plays it. And if it’s not her, we’re going to have to rewrite it again. Because I didn’t feel like anybody but her could do the role as I wrote it.

Then I got my chance to ask a question.

My Question: Other than Tilda, were there actors that you said HAD to be a specific role, roles that you specifically wrote for?

Scott Derrickson: The five lead roles, this is very rare, but the five lead roles, we got our first choice on every one of them. I don’t think that’s ever happened for me. Where our first choice for each role, we just were able to get. It usually doesn’t happen, for no other reason, because of availability. But it just turned out that all of our first choices were available, and they all wanted to do it. When they heard what the movie was. Once we got Benedict, of course, he’s kind of an actor magnet.

Other actors want to work with him, so there was that. But then when I would meet with them and explain the movie, they got excited at what it was that we were trying to do. Like Tilda, I remember Tilda got excited because she understood. I was making an experimental movie. I was making something that was not going to be — she doesn’t care about, how big a movie is. She could care less. She cares how interesting it is.

Question: She has some really powerful lines, as Ancient One, and a really great message — as a mom of young Marvel fans, I was like, I mean, what was your thoughts behind that, it’s, just the powerful messages in the film?

Scott Derrickson: Well, I’ll answer the question this way. I haven’t said this to anybody, but my biggest personal motive for making the movie is that I have two boys who are now thirteen and ten and who were eleven and eight when I started. They’re Marvel fans. Huge Marvel fans. I wanted to make a movie that would surprise them, but also a movie that would leave an impression on them of what I think are some of the most important things in life. That’s where a lot of that came from.

Question: You writing and directing Marvel’s Doctor Strange, how did that all happen?

Scott Derrickson: Well, I went after the job really hard. Like, really hard. I had eight meetings to get the job. It’s a very thorough process they go through, in hiring their directors. I grew up with Marvel comics. Doctor Strange was my favorite comic. When I heard they were making it, I felt like it was the only comic book character I was uniquely suited to do.

When I went in for the first meeting, I had my own opinion about what a Doctor Strange movie should be, and I felt very strongly about it. I was amazed at how in line my thinking about the comic was with theirs. It was almost like a switch flipped in my brain, and I just said, “I’m getting this job.” I’m going to outwork everyone on the presentation. I wrote the astral fight that they have in the hospital. I wrote that 12 page scene, before my second meeting.

I went in with a full vision. I just said, “here’s what a Doctor Strange movie should be.” They were in alignment with it, so, I just love it. I love that comic so much. The movie is so true to the comics. It so obviously feels the way the comics feel, and is true to that origin story.

Question: So what message are you hoping families walk away with?

Scott Derrickson: I love that the movie’s about how pain can dislodge you from what’s bad about your life, and push you into something better. He (Doctor Strange) becomes a much better person as a result of the worst thing that could happen to him, happening.

And, and as a result, he goes from, you know, this selfish, skeptical, materialistic guy, to this unselfish, altruistic, master of the mystic arts, who wants to now save people for better reasons than he did in the past.

Scott went on to say that he felt that superhero movies were reaching a saturation point and then he saw Guardians of the Galaxy as a complete win and was so different than any other superhero movie. He said, “it was so unexpectedly fresh and new, and it was so weirdly, uniquely, James Gunn.”

He went on further to say, “So, as a fan, going into Doctor Strange, I wanted to make the kind of comic book movie I wanted to see, which was a hard left turn. Which was a bold and fearless leap into the surreal, with some substantial meaning. Some depth of ideas, and still fun, still a Marvel character. With a little more originality and ambition than what we’ve been seeing, lately. Because that’s what I wanted as a fan, that’s what everybody wants. If I hit that target for my own taste, I, I have to believe it’ll satisfy other people as well.”

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DOCTOR STRANGE opens in theatres everywhere on November 4th!

I also wanted to direct you to a brand-new website MarvelStudiosHeroActs.com. Fans will be able to visit the site to upload their photo and choose from a selection of custom Marvel-themed overlays. They will then be able to post their photo directly to the Hero Acts gallery and to their other social channels using the hashtags #marvelstudios #heroacts.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Marvel Studios Invite Fans to Help Launch “Hero Acts” and Raise Funds for Save the Children

Marvel Studios to donate up to $1 million in recognition of new charitable initiative