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I could have seen Luke Evans for sure. But I like Cumberbatch so I'd be ok with it.

I think Colin Farrell would have been a great choice.

I also think Joaquin Phoenix would have done well (his arrogant emperor was very nice).

I think BC will do a great job though.

Too bad they didn't think of Clancy Brown. I think he would have been excellent.

He'd make a good Baron Mordo!

Clancy Brown is almost forever a Bad Guy™

So he probably wouldn't have worked for Dr. Strange. Maybe the voice actor for Fing Fang Foom though

Or, you know, Baron Mordo.

 Alpharius wrote:
Or, you know, Baron Mordo.

Lol... I did a google search for "Marvel villains who wield swords" because we all know There Can Be Only One! and up popped Surtur.


Perhaps they should get Clancy Brown as Surtur in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok film

I think the casting for Mordo (assuming they go for the 'proper' origin story) will be very interesting, as it will either have to be someone who can be likeable but fall or someone who you hate from the start but is ostensibly a good guy at first.

I think it has to be the latter!

It's official, Cumberbatch has been announced as Strange!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/30341376

It's hardly a surprise, but Marvel has confirmed that Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch WILL play Doctor Strange.
There had always been rumours the actor would take on the part since Marvel announced the film's production.
Cumberbatch will play the neurosurgeon Stephen Strange, who suffers a car accident and gets involved in a world of magic and alternate dimensions.
The film is due for release in November 2016.
Announcing the casting, producer Kevin Fiege said: "Stephen Strange's story requires an actor capable of great depth and sincerity."

Doctor Strange has featured in numerous Marvel comics since the 1960s. He first appeared in a book called Strange Tales in July 1963.
In 1978, actor Peter Hooten played Strange in a TV movie, which was created as a pilot for a proposed series. It was never commissioned.
In October, Marvel announced a roster of film releases for the next five years, of which Doctor Strange was one.
Others include a new two-part Avengers film, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and a sequel to Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Before Doctor Strange, Cumberbatch will be seen in four more episodes of Sherlock and will also be the voice of Shere Khan in The Jungle Book.

Apologies for the necro, if the mods feel this is better off in a new thread then please close this one.

 Paradigm wrote:

Before Doctor Strange, Cumberbatch will be seen in four more episodes of Sherlock and will also be the voice of Shere Khan in The Jungle Book.

I think BC would be excellent for Shere Khan.


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 TheMeanDM wrote:
I think Colin Farrell would have been a great choice.

Colin Farrell is a dreadful actor.

This is...great news!

Seriously!

Can't wait to see Bron Mordo and Dormammu on the big screen too! (I hope!)

And of course, Clea!

I've always thought that Doctor Strange was kinda underwhelming as a character. At face value, he's cool...Sorcerer Supreme who fights off demons and such...has the cool pad and the hot assistant. But IMO the character seemed to work best in the comics as a supporting character -- the magic specialist brought in to stop magical menace X.

Once you get past the basics with him, there just doesn't seem to be a lot of depth IMO. Maybe I'm completely off-base, but off the top of my head I can't really point to this or that amazing run or storyline in the comics with DS as a solo character. Maybe the stories have suffered because magic in the comics tends to be one big deus ex machina? I dunno. He also has a couple classic villains, but doesn't have the deepest rogue's gallery either.

Marvel's shown that they can successfully introduce semi-obscure characters to a general population, and find an angle from which to approach the story. Still, I don't know about this one.

I don't know about Cumberbatch, either. The Doctor always seemed suave and debonair...a man's man always in control. Perhaps it's the resemblance to Clark Gable. But personally I interpreted that to be part of the character too. I like Cumberbatch, and think that he can pull off some of the right qualities, but I'm not sure if he really puts them together in the way that I envisioned the character. Maybe it's that little bit of geekiness that he has? I never saw DS as having *any* of that. Obviously that's just a vision of one (me).

It did occur to me that Cumberbatch might have the curls to be able to pull off this coiffure, though...

Well, in his origin, which I imagine this film will focus on, Strange undergoes quite the transformation, from someone self-obsessed and arrogant (aspects that BC can certainly do) to a character that, while still pompous, is a lot more aware of the worlds and his place in them. So while he might not have changed much since, there's a lot to deal with in the introduction of the character.

Cumberbatch does nothing for me in any of the roles I have seen him play (Sherlock, Khan, Smaug) and this is all pretty clearly a hype train. I'm sure he is a nice guy and all but I have gotten sick of seeing him in everything. And even after the fad passes and the poor fellow can't get work for two decades thanks to being overexposed for one, I'll know we'll see him again being nostalgia-casted like Christopher Lee in Star Wars.

Casting him as Doctor Strange is especially irritating as I really like the character and in contrast with Sherlock Holmes and Khan -- who will always be better remembered as played by Jeremy Brett and Ricardo Montalban -- this is the first AAA presentation of Strange. I mean, even if you like Cumberbatch, the casting makes little sense if you are also a Doctor Strange fan ... a bit how you can like Robert Downey Jr but understand he is terribly miscast as Sherlock Holmes.

Have you seen "12 Years A Slave" Manchu? He's great in that.

I don't intend to impugn his acting ability -- although he is certainly overrated as an actor (not his fault, he's caught in a hype-nado). I mean, this should be abundantly clear as he spends so much time standing next to Martin Freeman, who is actually pretty great. But it's not like a Doctor Strange movie needs a super talented lead. The trouble here is the same as Into Darkness. Cumberbatch may be up to these hammy roles just in terms of talent but they are still mile-wide casting misses.

 Manchu wrote:
... a bit how you can like Robert Downey Jr but understand he is terribly miscast as Sherlock Holmes.

Have to say I disagree entirely here. I was as sceptical as any at first, but two movies later, I think it was one of the best casting decisions of recent years. He hit the nail on the head in producing a character that was true to the original source but very different to anything that had gone before.

I'll agree Cumberbatch is more than a little ubiquitous these days, and that Freeman is a better actor in most cases.

 Manchu wrote:
(...)a bit how you can like Robert Downey Jr but understand he is terribly miscast as Sherlock Holmes.

Really? I feel RDJ was the right choice for the kind of Sherlock Guy Ritchie wanted to make.

Who would you have instead?

I enjoy watching RDJr in those films (he's an entertaining guy) but I have never once believed he is Sherlock Holmes. By contrast, I have no trouble believing he is Tony Stark. That was A+ casting. I can at least believe Cumberbatch is Sherlock, albeit the fussy, disabled, contemporary version (which he is supposed to be) rather than the true inhabitant of 221B Baker Street. But Cumberbatch as Khan ... not in the least convincing and just plain embarrassing to watch.


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 His Master's Voice wrote:
Who would you have instead?

That's a tough question but almost certainly a Brit. RDJr's Americaness comes across as if over a bullhorn in Ritchie's films.

In a recent interview, Cumberbatch talked about how he was wanting a more "heartthrobby" role, as opposed to his many recent off-the-wall-ish-super-intelligent characters.

Perhaps Doctor Strange is part of that? It keeps the smartest-guy-in-the-room thing he does, but then adds some extra debonairness?

 Manchu wrote:
Cumberbatch does nothing for me in any of the roles I have seen him play (Sherlock, Khan, Smaug) and this is all pretty clearly a hype train. I'm sure he is a nice guy and all but I have gotten sick of seeing him in everything. And even after the fad passes and the poor fellow can't get work for two decades thanks to being overexposed for one, I'll know we'll see him again being nostalgia-casted like Christopher Lee in Star Wars.

Casting him as Doctor Strange is especially irritating as I really like the character and in contrast with Sherlock Holmes and Khan -- who will always be better remembered as played by Jeremy Brett and Ricardo Montalban -- this is the first AAA presentation of Strange. I mean, even if you like Cumberbatch, the casting makes little sense if you are also a Doctor Strange fan ... a bit how you can like Robert Downey Jr but understand he is terribly miscast as Sherlock Holmes.

I agree that he's overexposed, but he represents the next step for Marvel. They need a big name actor to take them into Phase 4, as RDJ isn't going to be around forever. There are better choices to play Strange I'm sure, but Eggs Benedict is the best choice for the MCU as a whole.

 Manchu wrote:
But it's not like a Doctor Strange movie needs a super talented lead.

Quite wrong. Doctor Strange needs to be a hit, as once Cap, Thor and Iron Man are gone he needs to be the new lead. Having a great actor in the role couldn't be more important for Marvel overall.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
But it's not like a Doctor Strange movie needs a super talented lead.

Quite wrong. Doctor Strange needs to be a hit, as once Cap, Thor and Iron Man are gone he needs to be the new lead. Having a great actor in the role couldn't be more important for Marvel overall.

Sorry, what I meant was you don't need an Oscar-winning performance.

Just because you don't need it doesn't mean you shouldn't strive for it. I mean look at who DC just cast for the Suicide Squad movie. There's some pretty hefty talent in there, including Oscar-rated actors.

I really doubt it will do any good. WB doesn't know what to do with DC in the cinema. In any case, Cumberbatch is no great actor but he has more than enough talent for a Disney comic book movie. Again, the problem is less him and more him playing Doctor Strange.

 Manchu wrote:
... a bit how you can like Robert Downey Jr but understand he is terribly miscast as Sherlock Holmes.

I agree with you a bit on the cumberbatch being over-exposed at this point. But I don't really agree with you on RDJ's protrayal as Holmes, I actually think he fits the character down to the source material (he hasn't really insulted Lestrade as much in the movies as Cumberbatch does in the TV show).


Now, when it comes to Strange, some of the previously rumored actors were either downright horrible choices, or at the least... interesting. The 2 biggest names that come to mind for previously rumored to be playing Strange, of course, being Johnny Depp (Do we really want "Doctor Captain Jack Strange Sparrow" ??) and Joaquin Phoenix.

IMO, we'll have to see how BC does in the role, but I think Phoenix would have been another good one.

 Manchu wrote:
Cumberbatch does nothing for me in any of the roles I have seen him play (Sherlock, Khan, Smaug) and this is all pretty clearly a hype train. I'm sure he is a nice guy and all but I have gotten sick of seeing him in everything. And even after the fad passes and the poor fellow can't get work for two decades thanks to being overexposed for one, I'll know we'll see him again being nostalgia-casted like Christopher Lee in Star Wars.

Casting him as Doctor Strange is especially irritating as I really like the character and in contrast with Sherlock Holmes and Khan -- who will always be better remembered as played by Jeremy Brett and Ricardo Montalban -- this is the first AAA presentation of Strange. I mean, even if you like Cumberbatch, the casting makes little sense if you are also a Doctor Strange fan ... a bit how you can like Robert Downey Jr but understand he is terribly miscast as Sherlock Holmes.

You really honestly didn't like Smaug?

I think the performance was brilliant. Simply because, when you are watching it you totally forget you're looking at a movie character. You are looking at fething SMAUG THE GOLDEN!

Sure, he probably is a little overhyped at this point, but its not like its for no reason. Smaug and Sherlock are flat out brilliant. Khan, yeah I'll give you that one, but its not like it was ever going to be amazing.