There are plenty of superheroes from the comics that most people will know the names of even if they’ve never really been comic book fans. Superheroes such as Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, The Flash, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman to name a few. But Doctor Strange? Unless you really are into superheroes like I’ve been throughout most of my life, then you probably aren’t going to know about this one. Nevertheless, Doctor Strange is personally one of my all-time favorite comic book characters, especially as of late, and Marvel’s latest foray into its growing list of movie releases about superheroes truly does his story justice.
Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) begins with him as one of the world’s leading neurosurgeons. One who’s at the top of his game, is wealthy, extremely good-looking, and overly ego-centric. But then one day it all comes crashing down upon him when he gets into a major car accident and his hands are crushed. After a number of unsuccessful surgeries and attempts at miracle cures, Strange still refuses to accept the nerve damage in his hands as permanent, believing his only purpose in life is to use them in the surgical practice he feels he was born to do. As he continues to exhaust what little money he has left, he hears of a person who was healed from an injury even worse than his and discovers that the potential cure is as far away as could be, in Tibet. There he meets a teacher named The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and demands to get his hands healed. When The Ancient One explains to him that there’s far greater paths for him in life than just being a doctor, Strange has a hard time swallowing that until he witnesses magical things his science and medicine can’t explain. Immediately he wants to know more. Thus begins Doctor Strange’s path of surrendering his former self to becoming The Sorcerer Supreme and eventually a member of the superhero team known in the Marvel world as The Avengers.
Why I am drawn so much to the story of Doctor Strange is how similar my own life path has been. Having come from a relatively well-to-do family that was rather ego-centric itself more than not, and having worked in a field that once paid me quite well, my own life circumstances greatly changed when my health suddenly fell apart a number of years ago. After that happened, I, like Strange, spent years and large sums of money looking for ways to fix it so that I could return to the life I once had. But when none of those fixes worked the way I wanted, I began to arrive at the conclusion that maybe my Higher Power had something much greater in store for me than returning to my old business-oriented life and receiving those high-dollar paychecks. Thus began my own path of surrendering, studying, and waiting upon God for guidance and direction to becoming who I’m meant to be.
Doctor Strange really is a great superhero movie, particularly if you’re someone who’s had to go through any process of surrendering in life. Surrendering everything you thought you knew all for the hopes of becoming something much greater in life. If that fits you in any way, then I highly recommend seeing this film, especially in 3-D, as I’m sure you’ll be spiritually moved as much as I was in watching it.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson