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According to Deadline, Benedict Cumberbatch is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Stephen Strange, aka Doctor Strange, “The Sorcerer Supreme.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. He Wasn’t Marvel’s First Choice
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According to Deadline, Marvel has finally found their actor to play the iconic Sorcerer Supreme in their cinematic universe, with actor Benedict Cumberbatch. However, Cumberbatch was not Marvel’s original choice to Stephen Strange, but Joaquin Phoenix. He was originally in talks to play Strange, when it fell through sometime around the San Diego Comic Con. It is believed that Phoenix’s reluctance was due to a six-picture deal or more, with Phoenix not wishing to be tied down to one project for that long.
Other actors originally rumored to play the character included Ethan Hawke, Tom Hardy, Ryan Gosling and most recently Keanu Reeves.
2. Benedict Cumberbatch Is Best Known for His Time on BBC’s ‘Sherlock’
Known best for his role as Sherlock on the hit BBC television show, where he won an Emmy for best actor in 2014, Cumberbatch has won and been nominated for a variety of other awards throughout his career. He’s already being called an Oscar hopeful for The Imitation Game, a Alan Turing biopic set to release in November.
Cumberbatch has also had memorable appearances as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness and the voice of Smaug in The Hobbit triology.
3. Doctor Strange Is Rumored to Release in 2016
Currently, the rumor is Doctor Strange will be one of Marvel’s flagship films of their phase 3 of movies, with a rumored release in July 2016.
With Marvel studio head Kevin Feige giving a little insight to the direction Marvel hopes to take with the character, stating:
With Strange, it is a classic Marvel origin story because he’s got one of the best origins ever. And it’s our opportunity to take that left turn into the supernatural. Now, what is the definition of supernatural? It varies. We like the idea of playing with alternate dimensions. The very sort of crazy – [Steve] Ditko crazy acid trip way of traveling through dimensions and traveling through other realms is something that we think is very, very cool … playing with the perceptions of reality.
Even hoping to ground the movie in real science, with a twist:
I just watched the Neil deGrasse Tyson ‘Cosmos’ series, which is amazing, and which may as well be an acid trip. It is mind-bending and it’s all based in physics and based in quantum mechanics. We’re going to play a lot with the notion of that as an explanation for how the sorcerers do what they do.
However, Marvel has stated the movie will not be an origin story.
4. Stan Lee Is One of the Creators of Doctor Strange
First appearing in Strange Tales #110 in 1963, Doctor Strange was created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, inspired by the Chandu the Magician, a radio program that aired in the 1930s.
Stephen Strange or Doctor Strange, is a former neurosurgeon who receives his powers from the Eye of Agamotto. You can hear a more detailed history and account of the character in the video below.
5. Scott Derrickson will Direct Marvel’s Doctor Strange
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Scott Derrickson, the director of Sinister and Deliver Us From Evil, is the named attached to Doctor Strange as the director, with Marvel studio president stating, “No, I wouldn’t say just because he has only done horror movies means that Doctor Strange is going to be a horror movie. It means he is a talented filmmaker who we think could add something unique and very fresh to the particular franchise. But there could be scary moments. There are scary moments in all our movies! There are some scary people that Strange has to deal with, I will say.”
With the Doctor Strange script written by Jon Spaihts, who also wrote Prometheus.