With the much anticipated release of Multiverse of Madness drawing ever closer, fans of the mystic master have one more thing to look forward to with the home release of the 1978 TV movie Dr. Strange, starring Peter Hootan and the late Jessica Walters.
For many younger fans this will likely be the first time they've heard of this movie's existence, which took many liberties with the source material and made no qualms about changing whatever they saw fit from the comics. The 1978 movie-of-the-week saw Dr. Steven Strange portrayed as a psychiatrist rather than a surgeon, who is convinced by Walter's Morgan La Fey (posing as a mental patient) to learn the mystic arts in order to defend the earth from a pending invasion.
This is not the first time that Shout Factory has made the film available to the public, as it was released on DVD back in 2016 to match the theatrical debut of the first Doctor Strange. Fans picking up the Blu-ray will enjoy a high-def restoration and transfer of the footage, along with optional audio commentary from pop culture historian Russell Dyball and Panel Jumper podcast’s Cole Hornaday. The Blu-ray is light on special features beyond this, however.
Dr. Strange was created to serve as a movie-pilot for a planned series that would have aired as a part of the newly created CBS Marvel production block, which was also going to feature Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno's The Incredible Hulk, and Nicholas Hammond's The Amazing Spider-Man. Unfortunately for Writer/Director Philip DeGuere, the pilot was never ordered to series.
Will you be picking up a copy of Shout Factory's Dr. Strange to add to your Marvel multiverse collection?