Marvel Studios & NHS Join Forces To Call On Real-Life Heroes To Donate Blood

Video screenshots via NHS

In real life, we’re not distressed dudes or damsels waiting to be rescued by someone in a cape. Power is harnessed from within, and there’s enough of it to save someone’s life.

In a curious new campaign, the UK’s National Health Service has recruited Marvel superheroes Benedict Cumberbatch (who plays Doctor Stephen Strange) and Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch) to call on valiant, “real-life heroes” to give blood.

The appeal—commissioned by Walt Disney Studios UK and NHS Blood and Transplant—arrives in time for the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and will run through June 19. The advertisement will air on the big screen in some cinemas, in addition to a social media rollout.

“In the real world, you don’t need costumes and special effects to be a hero… You can be the hero of your story and someone else’s just by giving blood,” Cumberbatch implores.

Olsen adds: “You already have the power to alter reality and change timelines… Because just one hour of your time could save up to three people’s lives.” The Doctor Strange sequel goes deeper into the Marvel multiverse and parallel timelines.

The NHS is making this plea following the depletion in blood supplies caused by the pandemic. To recoup the shortage, the country’s healthcare service will need 100,000 donors to sign up for its blood donation drive this spring. Donors whose blood types are O-positive, O-negative, or B-negative are most particularly needed, though all volunteers are welcome.

“Blood donors choose to make a difference, just like the superheroes in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” explains Zeeshan Asghar, head of commercial partnerships for NHS Blood and Transplant, in a press release. “We want to show the public that they already have the power to save lives just by giving blood.”

[via Campaign UK and NHS Blood and Transplant, video and cover image via NHS]