The upcoming Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 adds several new characters to the roster, including Marvel's sorcerer supreme, Doctor Strange. And of all the multimedia icons featured in UMvC3 - Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine - guess which character was the subject of an unusual level of oversight and supervision from Marvel? Yup, it's the Doctor. I'm guessing it's because the recent movie rumors have enough truth to them that Doctor Strange is being discussed in many meetings of the editorial and financial bigwigs at Marvel/Disney who want to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.

So, given that he's still an unproven property for the mass moviegoing audience Marvel is courting, it would be wise to tread carefully and make Doctor Strange a badass in his MvC debut. This is all speculation, but Kotaku's encounter with game producer Ryota Niitsuma at Gamescom would seem to support it.

"With Dr. Strange, Marvel had some very special requests," he said. "They wanted him to do this this and this. It was very specific what they wanted him to do."

Nitsuma said that Marvel has never been that specific in the past.

"Dr. Strange had the most specific requests they ever made," he said. "It was just unreal; what moves he had; what sort of hand gestures. Very specific."

He said the comic publisher even sent along illustrations showing exact hand positions for Dr. Strange to use in the game.

"There were some bits and pieces we couldn't do," Niitsuma said. "There were some moves we had to counter-offer [with] something else and satisfy their needs for specific things in different ways."

Marvel even over-ruled some of the things Capcom wanted to change. For instance, Marvel requests that Dr. Strange float when he moves around the screen in the fighting game. But Niitsuma and his team said that too many of Marvel's characters were already floating. Eventually, Marvel got their way.

Of course Marvel got their way. Because you don't. mess. with. Disney.

So what do you think? Do signs point to a Doctor Strange movie in the works? Do you, like me, consider this a Very Good Thing?

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 boasts new features including enhanced modes, more balanced gameplay, and most importantly 12 new playable characters, for a total of 50 Marvel and Capcom legends.

For a look at the new guys in action, check out these brand new trailers and get ready to summon the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, use your Penance Stare, and, uh, shoot trick arrows when Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 hits stores on November 15.

By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth! It looks like the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange is set to make his cinematic debut!

Because this never happened.Hey, if Captain America could overcome the spectre of a crappy '70s movie, so can the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko created Strange, one of the all-time comic greats, and someone that Marvel would seem to have had their eye on for some time. The Orb of Agamotto, a mainstay in Strange's magical, non-gentrified Bleecker Street bachelor pad, was spotted in Thor - specifically in Odin's Vault, home of all "this is significant to the future of the Marvel franchise" Easter eggs. 

Many speculated this meant that Strange was headed for the movie screen, and it appears as if that was right on the money. TwitchFilm has word that a Doctor Strange movie is on track for a 2013 release, scripted by Conan the Barbarian writers Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer.

Twitch has learned that Oppenheimer and Donnelly have now turned in their script and Marvel is pushing forward with the property. Marvel has drafted a short list of directors to approach on the title and is forwarding the current script to each to try and sign someone up to 'oversee continued development'.

I'd be really psyched to see a Doctor Strange movie. He's one of Marvel's all-time greats, and one of my personal favorites. Of course, he has the advantage of not currently starring in 16 titles. Oversaturation has been less than favorable, from a creative standpoint, for many of Marvel's movie mainstays. Wolverine, the Avengers, Thor and Captain America comprise something like 20 percent of what you see on the stands monthly, while Strange hasn't had a series of his own since 1996. This could be a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, but I'm very much on board for a Doctor Strange movie.

Doc:  "Just a minute honey - I'm just working on a spell that changes mosquitoes into bats and then I'm gonna - make the sexy with ya real good.  And yer gonna love it, you betcha!"

Clea: "He is so not mastering my dark dimension."