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Monday, January 05, 2015

Benedict Cumberbatch On "Doctor Strange"

It has been a month since Sherlock and "Star Trek Into Darkness" star Benedict Cumberbatch has officially been confirmed as the lead in Marvel's long gestating Doctor Strange movie.


 Now part of the studio's Phase 3 Plans--Created in 1963 in the comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko --Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch) 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.

Cumby is already at work prepping for his role and tells The Wall Street Journal he thinks the part isn't as much of a risk as  it might seem:

I don't think it's a risk because of Marvel. Marvel is a stable of bringing out ordinary comic characters and turning them into screen-like gods. It's very different, it's an Astral Plane. There's a huge new element to this Marvel universe that's going to be employed in building this story and this character. But you know, I'm really excited about it, about working with [director Scott Derrickson] whose imagination is endless, and all the boys and girls at Marvel who know what they're doing. I've got a few things to get under my belt first. I'm not going to be eked out on any spoilers or reveals now. It's quite a way off but I'm very excited about that spiritual dimension, obviously. It's something that's been a huge part of my life.”

Cumberbatch adds that he didn't read the comics growing up, but “you can bet your bottom dollar I'm reading them now, avidly.”

 Morgan Freeman, Bill Nighy and Ken Watanabe are said to be the top candidates to play The Ancient One. The character is the previous Sorcerer Supreme who serves as Strange's mentor--and also ends up training but ultimately rejecting Baron Mordo, The long rumored bad guy in the film who is said even to make a cameo appearance in the upcoming "Captain America: Civil War". Edgar Ramirez has been mentioned to possibly play Mordo in the film.

The studio hired Derrickson to call action here. 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".

Production takes place at Pinewood Studio in England. "Doctor Strange" is slated to hit cinemas on November 4th 2016.

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