Well, they aren’t aiming low. Marvel recently hired “Sinister” director Scott Derrickson to direct their adaptation of Marvel Phase 3 character “Dr. Strange,” and apparently they’re moving full speed ahead with the search for actors (guys, what’s with all the Marvel news this late on a Friday?).
Deadline reports the names of those high on Marvel’s wishlist, and they’re pretty big names. Evidently, Kevin Feige and company would love to have Benedict Cumberbatch or Tom Hardy as their Sorcerer Supreme, two names that are a lot bigger than the ones usually bandied about for this kind of role. Before you rejoice too much, all studios want these two actors for every part, so consider them high on everyone’s wishlist for every project. That said, Marvel has major sway and cachet. On the other hand, they lowball their actors, and these two actors, while not superstars yet, are commanding figures higher than what was reported for folks during the “Iron Man 2” casting debacles.
Evidently they aren’t the only names on this list either, but the other actors that Marvel is dreaming of haven’t been revealed yet. No mention of Jared Leto, who was a recent rumor that sounds a little small compared to what Marvel is eyeing at the moment.
“Dr. Strange” was written by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer and has no release date yet, but it feels, at this point, like a 2017 or 2018 movie at the very earliest.