25 years ago, Tim Burton showed people how it was done. His Batman, unlike almost every superhero movie that’s been released since, started with the character already in action. It was not an origin story. Sure it briefly explained how Bruce Wayne became Batman, but he’s Batman the entire movie. That’s radically different from Batman Begins, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Man of Steel and even this month’s Guardians of the Galaxy. On almost every occasion, the first superhero movie of a series is an origin story to let the audience know how and why the characters are who they are.

That may be changing, however. According to one source, Marvel Studios doesn’t want to do origin stories anymore and Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson, won’t be one.

The quote came from Badass Digest‘s Devin Faraci, appearing on the Schmoes Know Network. You can watch the video at those links but at the 52 minute mark there, Faraci said this:

Doctor Strange, they had a script in house forever….It’s a pretty standard origin story for Doctor Strange, it’s gotta Baron von Mordo as the bad guy. That’s all gone. Marvel’s new thing is no more origin stories. So Doctor Strange’s movie no longer has an origin. It begins in media res, it’s got Doctor Strange all ready established as The Sorcerer Supreme. It’s a totally new script. Jon Spaiths is working totally new, on his own, without any of the previous stuff. They’re not even touching the previous script….This is not going to be 20 minutes of him as a doctor.

That might sound like a radical departure and in the modern superhero era, it is. But Marvel Studios was already setting this up, at least in terms of Doctor Strange. Strange is mentioned as a threat in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, suggesting he was already a threat in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the time of that film. So he exists.

Still, the biggest question about this “no more origin story” thing comes up if the idea extends beyond Doctor Strange. From what we’ve heard of Ant-Man, it’s an origin story. So maybe this directive picks up in 2016, when we tend to think Strange will be released. Whenever it is, if the next new superhero movies are also not origin stories (whether they be Captain Marvel, Inhumans, or Black Panther), how will that play in the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe? Since this is all one big world, wouldn’t it seem likely these other superheroes are known to S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, The Avengers, etc? Just dropping into an MCU story without some set up or connection feels odd. On that note, I have a feeling we’ll need to keep our eyes and ears open in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

What do you think about this take on Doctor Strange?

Additional source: Latino Review