The main villain in DOCTOR STRANGE is a rather unknown comic book villain Kaecilius, played by actor Mads Mikkelsen. Not much is known about Kaecilius except he is a sorcerer with ideas that go beyond those of Doctor Strange, the Ancient One and the other sorcerers of the mystic arts.
Director Scott Derrickson spoke with sites about Kaecilius and did reveal some information, hints and what appears to be a big tease (via SlashFilm).
"...I don’t know how much I can’t give away about this, so I’m gonna answer with a tease. Is that fair? What we wanted was a character that was rooted in the real. This is certainly what I was pitching from the beginning was an antagonist who was rooted in the real world so that there could be an intimate relateability between Strange and his adversary. But who was empowered by something else. By something otherworldly. And connected to something else otherworldly. Which comes straight from the comics. And another character straight from the comics. And that became interesting to me.
"I always loved the Sauron-Saruman idea in Lord of the Rings, even though you never see Sauron except I think in the prologue. I think that’s the only time you ever see him in that trilogy, but what a presence and what a power. And we do more than that with this other dimensional power. But it, I like that idea. So that Strange wasn’t combating something huge and fantastical all the way through the movie that had no human relateability. That the one every version of that that we would visit felt strained and felt like too high of a bar. That we wouldn’t clear that bar given everything else that we had to establish in the movie. Does that make sense?
"And I think it’s working really well. And the thing I’ll say about Kaecilius is my favorite thing about him is he is a man of ideas. And that’s to me what always is compelling about villains. I am much more interested in how they think than in what they even do. My favorite villain being John Doe in Seven. Who does this extraordinary things and is so scary, but the scariest scene is when he actually, for me the scariest scene in that movie is the ride into the desert when he articulates why. I got terrified, I felt nauseous watching that movie, because I was like oh my God, he makes sense. Oh my God, how can this be? You know, and it was that watertight logic of what he says.
"Same thing with The Joker in The Dark Knight. The watertight logic of his anarchistic philosophy in that hospital bedside table scene with Harvey Dent is awesome. So I’m not saying our villain is as great as John Doe or The Joker, as Heath Ledger’s Joker, but he is a man of ideas and to me, that’s what makes villains compelling."
The most telling part of this tease is when Derrickson says, "But who was empowered by something else. By something otherworldly."
This immediately implies there is another villain lurking in the shadows and the background possibly controlling Kaecilius, hence those dark and evil looking circles around his eyes.
So let the Dormammu theories, hopes and dreams continue because the implication is most definitely there until it is revealed when DOCTOR STRANGE hits theaters in the states on November 4.
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