The most surprising guest of the evening was presidential debate sensation Ken Bone, who arrived on the red carpet with his signature red half-zip sweater.

Doctor Strange is the story of Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch), a neurosurgeon who, due to a car accident, is left with nerve damage in his hands. No longer able to perform surgery, he seeks out a mysterious group, where he meets The Ancient One (Swinton), who teaches him the mystic arts.

"There is just something about him that I love," said composer Michael Giacchino of Doctor Strange, the film inspired by works of Lee and artist Steve Ditko."I wanted to get across the idea that this guy had a darker past with a lot of loss."

Doctor Strange is the first Marvel movie for Giacchino, who is currently in the middle of scoring the Star Wars stand-alone Rogue One and has worked on everything from Star Trek to Pixar's Up. "I first called Kevin [Fiege] about the movie and I told him, 'I love this character. Who is doing the movie? Because I love this character.'"

Giacchino showed up to his first meeting with filmmakers with a sample of Doctor Strange's musical theme already done.

Another person who grew up with a fondness for Dr. Stephen Strange was director Scott Derrickson, telling Heat Vision: "Doctor Strange was my favorite Marvel comic, specifically because of it's psychedelic weirdness."

He added: "I was very committed to making something that would not look like a repeat of previous [Marvel] movies."

That "psychedelic weirdness" can be seen in the movie's special effects sequences, which include, but are definitely not limited to, interdimensional travel and New York city streets folding in on themselves.

"It's just make believe and I know all films are make believe, but this was insane," said Swinton of the film's VFX. "They would tell me, 'Look up there at that tiny sticky tape, now that is a planet. And when you move this piece of plywood, that planet is going to move."

Following the red carpet, people packed into the TCL Chinese Theater as well as the El Capitan, where audience members stayed put following the film's hour-and-55-minute runtime for the post-credit scenes that become one of the most eagerly awaited part of the MCU.

The evening wrapped up at the afterparty, which took place a short walk from the Chinese theater at (where else?) The Magic Castle.

Doctor Strange hits theaters nationwide on Nov. 4.