While Marvel was just rumoured to be considering making shorts featuring some of its lesser-known superheroes, it appears that one of the names mention for that possibility, Dr Strange, is actually going to get his break in a full-length feature, with Conan remake scribes Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer hired to take a crack at the good Doctor.

Strange was originally born from the brains of Stan Lee and art genius Steve Ditko, and began life as a selfish New York surgeon named Stephen Strange who loses his ace slice ‘n’ dice skills in a car crash. After falling on hard times, he visits a healer known as the Ancient One (because being named Bob just wouldn’t cut it for a mystical guru type) in the Himalayas and learns to tap into psychic powers. In recognition of his selfless efforts to thwart evil fellow disciple Baron Mordo, he’s taught the mystical arts and sets out to defeat other nasty sorcerers and various villains.

According to Deadline, the character has had a long, torturous history in Hollywood, been picked up by more than one studio including Sony, Dimension and Paramount along the way and attracted a revolving door pack of writers and directors, with names such as Bob Gale, Wes Craven, Stephen Norrington and Guillermo del Toro. But with Marvel securing the rights and now in a position to make the movie itself, it looks like Dr Strange could well be the first pic it produces under the new deal with Disney.