Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson is reiterating a simple message from his film to the world’s richest person, Elon Musk: “It’s not about you.”
The quote from Tilda Swinton’s The Ancient One to the titular sorcerer has some layered context behind it that makes the message all the more interesting.
First off, accompanying the Tweet was a screen capture from what was reported by ComicBook to be Musk’s Instagram account in a now-deleted post where the Tesla founder shared a picture of the Sorcerer Supreme with the simple caption: “selfie.”
Back in 2018, Derrickson shared that same screen capture on Twitter and responded with the same message as he did once again over the weekend “It’s not about you.”
Some on Twitter questioned whether the image was the genuine article, since Musk’s Instagram account is also apparently no longer a thing. According to Derrickson: “Oh it’s real.”
Although it’s unclear what Derrickson’s message to the billionaire was, it’s obviously some kind of critique at the man’s hubris for comparing himself to someone with superhuman abilities.
When you consider Derrickson’s reiterative comment comes on the same day Musk made a controversial comment to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders Sunday, amid an ongoing feud between the two about whether billionaires should be heavily taxed, one can perhaps speculate that the director is taking Sanders’ side on the matter.
On Sunday, Musk Tweeted in response to Sanders, “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive.”
This was in response to Sanders taking to Twitter to declare: “We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period.”
The fight on Twitter is obviously an extension of the pair’s disagreements politics-wise, as a similar spat occurred last year when Sanders was pushing for a similar tax-the-rich piece of legislation as he is now.
What public figure — other than Benedict Cumberbatch — do you think most resembles Doctor Strange? Leave it in the comments below.