Filming Locations Guide: Where was Doctor Strange filmed?
Posted by Ra Moon
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, the 2016 Marvel film diving into the origins of Dr. Stephen Strange takes the mysterious superhero to the lands of the Kathmandu Valley.
Doctor Strange was filmed on location in Nepal, shortly after the catastrophic earthquake of 2015. The movie was also recorded in England, Hong Kong, and New York.
Doctor Strange was filmed on location in Nepal, shortly after the catastrophic earthquake of 2015. The movie was also recorded in England, Hong Kong, and New York.
Stephen Strange, looking for a wizard who could help him recover from a car accident, will be introduced to sorcery and mysticism by The Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton.
The main cast is completed by Chiwetel Ejiofor as Strange's mentor Karl Mordo, Benedict Wong as the Master of the Mystic Arts, Wong, and Rachel McAdams as surgeon Christine Palmer.
The Loki series is linking the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
Here is our complete guide to the filming locations of Doctor Strange.
The movie starts with sorcerer Kaecilius (played by Mads Mikkelsen) and his acolytes stealing pages from an ancient book from the library of Kamar-Taj, home of the Masters of the Mystic Arts.
This scene was filmed at the studio. However, when the thieves open the external door onto the street, they are at the National Liberal Club on Whitehall Court in central London.
(You can open all the locations on Google Maps by clicking on the links below in the captions ↴)
Image courtesy of Marvel Studios - Map
Image courtesy of Marvel Studios - Map
After running down Whitehall Place, they are stopped by the Ancient One at the junction of Northumberland Avenue and Great Scotland Yard.
The movie gets a bit trippy, with scenes reminiscent of the induced dreams of Inception (2010).
Image courtesy of Marvel and Google Maps
According to Jovial Jay, the interior of the fictional Metropolitan General Hospital in NY was filmed at the LondonEast-UK Business and Technical Park located in Dagenham, east of London.
Image courtesy of Marvel Studios Movies - Map
Dr. Stephen Strange's apartment (or at least, the garage where he keeps the flashy Lamborghini Huracán Coupé), is located at West End Avenue and West 86th Street, in the heart of Upper West Side in Manhattan.
The Italian machine speeds up on the imposing George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River.
The curvy road is the scenic section of the NY-97, bordering Pennsylvania and NY states by the Delaware River, near the Hawks Nest.
Image courtesy of Marvel - Map
Doctor Strange in Nepal
The cast and crew traveled to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, just a few months after the 2015 earthquake.
Strange visits several temples in the city. Pictured, the iconic Swayambhunath Temple, overlooking Kathmandu from the top of a hill.
Image courtesy of Marvel - Map
Strange also walks across one of the bridges leading to the Pashupatinath Temple, a famous and sacred Hindu complex located at the other side of the city.
Pashupatinath is one of the largest and most famous temples of Kathmandu, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Image courtesy of Marvel - Map
The monuments of the popular and central Patan Durbar Square in Lalitpur (south of Kathmandu) are also featured in the film.
The area was heavily damaged by the earthquake, but luckily the Krishna Mandir temple and the tower pictured survived the tragedy.
Image courtesy of Marvel - Map
Some street scenes were also filmed in the Thamel and New Road areas in Kathmandu, the center of the tourist industry.
However, the alley where Stephen is robbed and the interior of Kamar-Taj were filmed back at the studios in London, with plenty of CGI thrown in.
As you can appreciate from the lower pic, the set was inspired by the Keshav Narayan Chowk courtyard at the Patan Durbar palace.
Image courtesy of Marvel and Suraj Belbase
The spectacular scene of the bending kaleidoscopic church with Kaecilius was filmed at the Exeter College Chapel of the Oxford University in England.
The New York Sanctum Sanctorum, located in the comics at 177A Bleecker Street, was also made using digital effects, provided by Industrial Light and Magic.
The lower facade from the scene when Strange steps out of the building was filmed at W 12th and West 4th Streets in West Village, NY. As you can see, the portal doesn't exist at all, it was CGI'd into the scene.
Image courtesy of Marvel and Google Maps
Most of this sequence in New York was recorded at the studios, making extensive use of green screens, combined with on-location shoots.
Filming in New York took place in Hell's Kitchen neighborhood and Flatiron District. The scene pictured was filmed at Madison Avenue and E 30th Street.
Image courtesy of Marvel - Map
The spot where Stan Lee, who died in 2018, makes a cameo reading Aldous Huxley’s The Doors Of Perception inside a bus is at East 32nd Street and Madison Avenue.
The scene where the Ancient One crashes into the sidewalk after the fight was filmed in London, at 1 Ropemaker Street.
A few establishing shots were filmed on the streets of Hong Kong, although most of what is seen in the film was built on a service road at Longcross Studios.
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NOTICE: If you’re using this information on your website, please credit and link to this page as a source.
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Ra Moon
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