Marvel Studios moving forward towards the mystical with 'Dr. Strange'

I know everyone's predicting the death of the comic book superhero adaptation, but don't tell Marvel Studios.  According to Twitch Film, the Disney subsidiary is moving ahead with development on "Dr. Strange."  Reportedly, scribes Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have turned in a draft and the studio is now looking for a director to oversee continued development.

When the duo were hired last year, they had just done drafts of "Cowboys & Aliens" and the "Conan the Barbarian" reboot.  "Cowboys" did not have the opening weekend the powers-that-be had hoped for, but nonetheless, Donnelly and Oppenheimer were hot off the hot list at the time they were signed.  In other words, Marvel was serious about bringing their supernatural superhero to the big screen.

Created in 1963, the "Dr. Strange" comic tells the story of a surgeon who,injured in a car accident, goes on to become the Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel universe and uses magical powers to protects the world from otherworldy menaces.

Although Thor is a god, the movie sidestepped the supernatural aspects to a large degree.  Thor himself says he's from a place where science and magic are the same thing.  The Cosmic Cube is showing itself now, but that's not quite the same as the world of Dr. Strange.  To fans of Marvel mysticism, nothing else will do.

Word is the Donnelly/Oppenheimer script is now being shopped to a short list of potential directors.  Sounds like Marvel is still serious and it is possible that "Dr. Strange" could reach multiplexes by summer of 2013.