The man who will bring the Sorcerer Supreme to life on the big screen nearly didn’t get to learn the dark arts. Don’t forget them. Yes, our November issue ventures into another dimension, focusing on Marvel’s new mind-bender, Doctor Strange, and it’s onsale next week. And as always, Empire magazine has one of the first big exclusive looks at the film, which the publication is promoting with some exclusive Doctor Strange cover images.
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It turns out that while Cumberbatch was, in Derrickson’s words, “the only actor we seriously considered”, the highly regarded thespian nearly had to pass on the role because of a previous commitment to play Hamlet on the London stage in the fall of 2015.
According to Empire, Derrickson met with a lot of good actors including Jared Leto, Joaquin Phoenix, and Ryan Gosling. It just wasn’t possible.
Back then, Cumberbatch genuinely believed the Doctor Strange role had slipped between his fingers, telling Empire, “I really did think I had to kiss it goodbye”. In order to keep their leading man, Marvel changed their production plans to push the Summer 2016 release to a later date, a rather unusual move in this industry. So the hugest compliment they paid me was to come back to me. “It motivated me to try to fulfil their faith in me”. But did you know that he nearly starred in a Marvel movie instead?
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Doctor Strange also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) as Baron Mordo, Benedict Wong as Wong, with Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive) as The Ancient One and Mads Mikkelsen (“Hannibal”) as the villain Kaecilius.
