Marvel Recruits Crew for Doctor Strange
Edgar Wright’s exit off of Ant Man has not derailed the Marvel movie machine, and Marvel has focused their attention on other things. Rumors are swirling around their new favourite Phase 3 project, Doctor Strange. It seems Marvel is proceeding to build their dream crew to get the Sorcerer Supreme to the big screen as soon as possible. Variety recently reported that director Scott Derrickson is in talks to head the project, and while there has yet to be a formal announcement, Derrickson’s Twitter makes him seem pretty certain that it’s his next project.
On top of that, Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Marvel is negotiating to have Prometheus writer Jon Spaihts pen the script. Hollywood is showing a lot of faith in Spaihts, he is also attached to the Mummy reboot. There is an existing first draft for Doctor Strange written by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer that will no doubt go through several edits before the studio commits it to film.
Of course there is one more hot topic; the issue of who will play the Doctor himself. Big names are being thrown around, names like Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch and recently Jered Leto. But since Leto is committed to replacing Will Smith on the project Brilliance, his dance card is looking a bit full. Only time will tell if he is Marvel’s first choice and if they are willing to work around the recent Oscar winners busy schedule, but considering how quickly the studio is moving, it’s clear that they want to get Doctor Strange off the ground quickly. With a director known for horror and the writer who knows a thing or two about science fiction, it looks like Marvel is well on their way to getting the right combination to bring the Doctor Stange into production soon.
