Meet Doctor Mordrid: The infamous Doctor Strange ripoff that actually isn’t

The quasi-comic book cult movie Doctor Mordrid was often considered a cheap Doctor Strange cash-in, but now the record is being set straight.

Decades before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, when Benedict Cumberbatch became Master of the Mystic Arts, other attempts were made at adapting Stephen Strange for live-action.

The most noteworthy try Marvel and Stan Lee signed off on was a TV movie in the 1970s that, while it never became a series, was a hit with fans and some critics. In the following decades, the good Doctor was still a priority for the House of Ideas though he didn’t bear fruit until 2016.

Keep in mind that doesn’t mean there weren’t ways for Marvelites to get their magical fix.

What The Doctor Strange ordered

Enter the ’90s and film producer Charles Band who, through his low-budget movie label Full Moon Features, filled the void.

Known for the Puppet Master and Killer Bong series, Band conquered the straight-to-video market and developed a devoted following ready to consume anything he put out. For them and to challenge the unknown, he’d release his answer to Doctor Strange in 1992: Doctor Mordrid.

Starring Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) as the titular wizard, the film came out during a boom period for VHS-exclusive genre pictures so it got somewhat lost in the shuffle.

Upon rediscovery in recent years on DVD and Blu-ray, it’s been regarded as a “cool-to-pretty good” hidden gem reverently aping Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s popular sorcerer, and it’s easy to see why.

Brain surgery

All the pieces are there. Mordrid uses magic to stop a Fourth Dimensional threat from taking over our world. He also has to guard a mystical stone as old as time and to boot, he has a sanctum and a love interest to protect.

This is all out of the Strange playbook and the similarities are thought to be more than a simple coincidence. Up until now, the story of the making was Band had the rights to make a Doctor Strange movie but lost them during pre-production. Instead of cutting his losses he changed the title and followed through with his plans.

Everyone believed this narrative for a long time – the trouble is it’s not true. Based on the findings of YouTube reviewer GoodBadFlicks, the inside story of Doctor Mordrid – which doesn’t involve his Marvel counterpart’s film rights – is far more complex, as the video in GBF’s “Exploring” series illustrates.

Hands of a surgeon

Although film rights to Dr. Strange weren’t up for grabs, the touch of a real Marvel legend did come into play. Band, a huge comic fan, admired artist Jack Kirby and signed him to a two-picture deal in the 1980s to develop features inspired by ideas that were throwbacks to the Silver Age.

One of these was an obvious Strange homage dubbed “Mr. Mortalis”, at first, and later referred to as the more on-the-nose “Dr. Mortalis.” Kirby drew several concept renderings of the “master sorcerer” and his egg-shaped supercomputer sidekick that were used for a pitch to Vestron Video but they didn’t bite.

Mortalis stayed on the shelf while Kirby’s contract expired and Band had to rethink his business strategy. Seeing the potential in video, he switched to the model he’s known for and dragged Mortalis out of mothballs.

Casting a new spell

Aiming to direct most of the picture himself, Band renamed it “Doctor Mordrid: Master of the Unknown” and tapped C. Courtney Joyner to write the screenplay as he had for several of Band’s productions.

The script was near and dear to both and, although it clearly borrows tropes from Doc Strange, Joyner says in no way does Mordrid unabashedly steal from Marvel. Moreover, the story of rights issues is overblown considering Full Moon never had them.

“Never!” Joyner told GBF, adding:

"“The story has gotten so speculative and messed up. I don’t know if Charlie [Band] was ever in negotiation for the Strange rights as he and Stan Lee were good friends and remained so until Stan’s death. When I was brought on, Dr. Mordrid was known as Dr. Mortalis and the creation of Jack Kirby. Somewhere along the line, there was a money problem and I was asked to step in and use the material that was there in the concept which was Strange-like for sure. But when I came on there was no switch-around from Strange comics or anything like that."

Not So Strange

Joyner continued, avowing his love for Ditko, Kirby, and the film he and Band pulled off:

"“I love the Ditko Strange and this is certainly a tribute to it but I took off from some of the great Kirby artwork to construct the story, and I don’t recall Doc Strange fighting dino skeletons. This has come up for debate quite a bit and I only take comfort in the fact our little movie is considered the best ‘non-Doctor Strange Doctor Strange’, and we’re certainly better than the TV movie.”"

Doctor Mordrid’s climax incorporated stop-motion T-Rex and Mammoth bones before the movie wrapped up but the story wasn’t supposed to end there.

A script was written for Doctor Mordrid 2: Crystal Hell and an outline was made for Doctor Mordrid 3: Shadow Queen, but sadly the first movie flopped badly after its release and plans for a franchise fell apart.

Doctor Mordrid’s Prognosis

Worth noting is Marvel never pursued legal action against Full Moon and Charles Band for Doctor Mordrid. Nor did they express any displeasure over the project – or at least there are no reports or indications of either.

The MCU eventually gave Strange his time in the sun with great success whilst Mordrid lives on in the hearts of cult movie geeks everywhere who recognize, though surely mimetic of Doctor Strange, it’s very much its own thing.

Did you find that interesting? Or were you already aware of the “Strange” misconception? Tell us below and on our socials, and if you’ve seen Doctor Mordrid, tell us your thoughts on that film while you’re at it.