The word “reshoots” tends to send up alarm bells because as we’ve seen in recent memory (“Suicide Squad,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story“) it can be code for a studio desperately trying to fix a picture they don’t think is working. But by and large, every blockbuster movie sets aside production time after initial filming has wrapped for reshoots or pick-ups, additional filming to help punch-up scenes or add a few extra moments that the director or producers feel are needed after watching the first cut or assembly. And sometimes, that process means bringing in a little extra help as Marvel did with “Doctor Strange.”
THR reports that “Community” co-creator Dan Harmon was hired to pen some scenes during rounds of additional filming on “Doctor Strange.” There’s no word on what those sequences involved, but I’d surmise they were comedic in nature, perhaps to balance the more mystical vibe the rest of the movie seems to have. And even at their “darkest,” Marvel movies have always tended to have a streak of humor, so this doesn’t seem like a particularly big surprise.
Harmon is still relatively new to writing for movies (his only credit is on “Monster House,” though he did some uncredited work on “Kung Fu Panda“), but clearly Marvel showed faith he could get the job done. Maybe the next step would be getting his own superhero movie to write? That would be quite something.