Marvel
Everyone, calm down. It’s finally happened. Maybe. Probably. Oh, you know how these things go.
Earlier this month, we reflected on the long, strange trip that had brought us to this crucial juncture in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: a Doctor Strange movie without, well, a Doctor Strange. Those days may now be over. Deadline reports that Benedict Cumberbatch is “the studio’s choice for the superhero pic, and negotiations are about to begin.” Again, no formal offers have been made, Cumberbatch has not accepted anything and nothing has been officially announced. Still, it’s no surprise that Marvel has acted relatively quickly to line up a new Sorcerer Supreme after their long-gestating chats with Joaquin Phoenix proved fruitless.
The outlet doesn’t dispute rumors that other names were “in the mix,” including Jared Leto and Tom Hardy, but it should come as little shock that Cumberbatch has apparently come out on top. He’s on his way to becoming a big, big name – and, with The Imitation Game arriving soon, possibly also an Oscar winner – so it’s no shock that Marvel wanted to snap him right up.
Scott Derrickson is directing the film, with a script by Jon Spaihts, who worked off Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer’s first draft.
The film is expected to hit theaters on July 8, 2016, so yeah, someone needed to get locked into this role pretty quickly. At least Cumberbatch will likely look quite dashing in a cape.