A Trio Of New Actors Hover Over "Doctor Strange"

A shortlist of actors being considered to play the title character in Marvel's long gestating Doctor Strange movie has gone up at Variety.

Newly revealed contenders Matthew McConaughey, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Oscar Isaac.

 McConaughey's schedule may be a big issue, Gyllenhaal is "quite interested", Isaac was added to the mix following Marvel suits viewing his work on scenes from the next "Star Wars" film, and Ethan Hawke is said to still be in the hunt. Badass Digest fist reported that recent Oscar winner Jared Leto was being eyed to play the lead. Now Variety says that he is "aggressively pursuing" the role.

Now part of the studio's phase three or four plans--Created in 1963 in the comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko --Doctor Strange tells the story of an arrogant surgeon who is injured in a car accident and goes on to become the Sorcerer Supreme of the universe. Using his magical powers Strange protects the earth from attacks from other realms.

The studio  hired Scott Derrickson to direct the film He was first reported in contention for the director job earlier this year, along with names like Jonathan Levine ("Warm Bodies") and Mark Andrews ("Brave").

"Kung Fu Panda" scribes Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger were said to be poised to pen a recent screenplay draft. Back in January 2012, Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer-the writing duo behind the recent remake of Conan the Barbarian had their work seemingly approved by the studio. Recently we learned that Jon Spaihts, best known for writing the early and more "Alien"-inspired drafts of Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" is in talks to rewrite the script. The tone of the film will be similar to that of "Iron Man".

Actor/writer Justin Theroux ("Mulholland Drive," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle"), Viggo Mortensen and Joel Edgerton were mentioned for the lead as well. "Inception" and "The Dark Knight Rises" star Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the last actor in the mix before Johnny Depp's name was mentioned

Depp is said to have had a meeting "to discuss taking on the role of Dr. Strange." His strong ties to Disney, Marvel's owners, makes him an ideal candidate

On the heels of the director potentials Bleeding Cool reported that: "According to one pretty solid Marvel-adjacent source, Mads Mikkelsen apparently is, or has been, somewhere in the mix for the film's early casting discussions."

Deadline had Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch hovering over the pic recently--The main issue for both actors is scheduling..They already have various commitments elsewhere. Both of them starred together in 2011's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," remake and the 2007 telemovie "Stuart: A Life Backwards" This Is Infamous had it that "Boardwalk Empire" and "American Hustle" cohort Jack Huston.was the latest potential to play the Sorcerer Supreme. but he just landed the lead in the new "Ben-Hur" film adaptation.

A while ago The Wrap had Joaquin Phoenix is in talks for the lead. According to Collider Phoenix still had deets to work out--ultimately deciding NOT to take the role...

Edgar Ramirez has been mentioned as well---possibly playing bad guy Baron Mordo.

Production would begin next May at Pinewood Studio in England. There's no specific release date for "Doctor Strange," yet it will likely take one of the slots that the studio has staked out-recently. it's expected July 8th 2016 will be targeted.