Stephen Strange is a gifted, self-satisfied neurosurgeon whose hands, and his whole identity, are ruined in a car crash. Chasing a cure to the ends of the earth, he arrives at a hidden sanctuary in Kathmandu where the Ancient One teaches him that the mind can bend reality and the world hides sorcerers guarding it from darker dimensions. Scott Derrickson stages the training as a psychedelic gauntlet of folding cities and mirror worlds. Benedict Cumberbatch anchors it with dry wit, backed by Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Mads Mikkelsen, as Marvel swaps its usual hardware for magic and cosmic scale.