Seems like another rehash, except with Star-Lord this time.

Wow, that would be something to see. 

Benedict Cumberbatch confirmed as Dr. Strange tonight. My wife is very excited about the casting.

-M

I think Cumberbatch could be good in the role if he were given something to work with, but my expectations are pretty low for this movie because I imagine they'll be doing something closer to the recent version of the character than that of the classic era.

It does and the trailer reminds me of the third film which was pretty disappointing.

I'm absolutely in favour of not doing a Strange origin (I don't know if I posted my reasons here or on another board already, but at the risk of repeating myself, I"ll post them here).

1. The original stories started with Strange in residence and did his origin later.
2. (to me) Dr. Strange is interesting as the master of the mystic arts, not as a student. Not as somebody who is starting to figure out things, but as a person of knowledge. He needs to have an aura of confidence and power. He's the man people go to if they have nowhere to go.
2b. Having him start as a student and become the master in a single movie would trivialize the long path that Strange needed to becomes the master. Strange's power is knowledge and to gather knowledge takes time. There is no magic serum he sips, no magic hammer he lifts to become who he is.
3. The origin of Strange as told in comics would make for a pretty bad film: Strange is a witness, incapable of affecting the conflict between Mordo and the Ancient One. Changing the story to make Strange more of an agent, would run into problem 2b. Point of the original story is that Strange is powerless against Mordo and accepts that, allowing him to open himself to the Ancient One's teachings.


(Is it obvious I really love Dr. Strange.)

I'm torn on this, because I believe that the points you are making as well as the ones that Simon Garth is making are both completely valid. 

As a long-time fan of Dr. Strange, I don't need his origin to be retold because I know it inside and out.  From a cinematic standpoint, unless it is critical to the story being told (and I doubt they use Baron Mordo, who just isn't interesting visually or character-wise, unless you can really delve into his backstory, which is a whole other issue), then I don't see the reason for it to take up too much screentime because I just want to see him dealing with apocalypse-level mystical threats that no one else can handle (Shuma Gorath would be so cool to see).  

However, for someone like my wife, who is more a casual fan, she is going to want to know how Dr. Strange got to be the Master of the Mystic Arts or Sorceror Supreme (if they go that route), because she would have a hard time just accepting that this guy is the greatest sorceror on Earth.  Was he born that way, is it because of the mystical artifacts (Eye of Agamotto, Cloak of Levitation, etc.), or did he have to study to get there; those are all questions she would ask, and she would feel unsatisfied if there was no reason given other than "he just is".