Archetypes are always [in my film-making]. It's sometimes interesting to just flip them a little bit and see the underside.

I think that's true of all cinema, that's why cinema is the great humanistic art form. Whatever the film is, it doesn't matter what the film is about, or even whether it's a narrative or figurative film at all, it's an invitation to step into somebody else's shoes. Even if it's the filmmaker's shoes filming a landscape, you go into somebody else's shoes and you look out of their lens, you look out of their eyes and their imagination. That's what going to the pictures is all about.

I've only ever gone into studio films with people I really like.

The story, it's really important to The Ancient One that Doctor Strange does cut it because The Ancient One needs a successor, or certainly needs - you could say - a son. So The Ancient One is really invested in Doctor Strange, it's a very kind of primal relationship.

How do we identify ourselves, and how do we settle into other people's expectations for our identity?

I live a soldier's life when I'm working. That's how it feels to me, except I've got a slightly greater chance of survival.

There's no need there to sit with the filmmaker for 11 years to develop the script, or go round the world raising money.