Credit: Marvel StudiosYears after the release of the original Doctor Strange (2016) movie, details were revealed about an important death scene integral to Strange’s backstory that was ultimately cut from the film.
The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular Dr. Stephen Strange, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, and Benedict Wong as Wong. All of these actors would reprise their roles in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022), one of the highest-grossing movies of 2022.
Doctor Strange remains one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel Universe, cinematic and otherwise. However, an essential detail from his backstory was cut from the original film: the death of Strange’s sister.
Doctor Strange Was Supposed To Lose His Sister
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Whenever a movie is edited, some cuts have to be made. One of those cuts was an essential piece of Doctor Strange’s history: the death of his sister, Donna Strange. Tragically, she died of hypothermia after cramping during a swim, causing Stephen Strange to become a doctor.
Strange’s sister Donna was played by Lulu Wilson, an actress known for her performances in Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), The Haunting of Hillhouse (2018), and Becky (2020). However, according to an interview with ComicBook.com, she is still upset about her scene that was cut.
“I died, and that’s the whole thing because Donna Strange is dead, and Doctor Strange is like, ‘My sister is dead!’ So I died and remember being a little bit pissed because, come on, that would have been a good moment and would have been good for me.”
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Director Scott Derrickson explained the reason why the scene was cut. “…I loved that scene. It was a really great scene. It just didn’t fit in the movie. It felt like… it just didn’t work. But the self-contained scene by itself, I thought it was great. And Lulu [Wilson], who was the little girl in Ouija and was in Deliver Us From Evil, played the girl. So I hope that scene’s on the DVD.”
While some Marvel fans would have loved to see the story stay more faithful to the comics. But if the director of a movie doesn’t think a scene fits the film, it gets cut. Fortunately, Lulu Wilson has continued to have a successful career in horror movies.
Do you think this scene should have been left in the movie? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!