Last week Marvel announced that Benedict Cumberbatch was officially cast as Doctor Strange, now fresh news arrives on Marvel's shortlist for actors to portray another key character in the movie.
According to Latino Review, Marvel has a list of three actors in mind for the role of The Ancient One aka the man who mentors Doctor Strange to become the Sorcerer Supreme. In no particular order, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe and Bill Nighy are that short list, and I already know who I’m campaigning for.
Both Freeman and Watanabe would be a good fit for the role, but now that Bill Nighy’s name is out there the prospect of a Nighy and Cumberbatch team-up is just too tantalising to ignore. Nighy is no stranger to blockbusters, he was one of the best things about Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3, a cameo in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 and to a lesser degree the Underworld movies. Nighy is a class act no matter what he's in, and he stole our hearts in the likes of Pride, About Time and Love Actually then delivered the dramatic goods in the Johnny Worricker trilogy.
Nighy has yet to appear in a superhero movie in any capacity, and Freeman and Watanabe were both part of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy so this would be another first for Nighy’s prolific career. All three actors have been approached by Marvel Studios so we’ll have to wait and see how those discussions go, but Nighy mentoring Cumberbatch is cinematic gold and the banter alone would be enough to sell tickets.
Previously, Marvel Studios has mentioned their plans to avoid the traditional origins story for Doctor Strange, this presents a unique opportunity to introduce one of the most interesting characters in the Marvel universe. Whilst this approach might create a set of creative challenges for director Scott Derrickson, I’m sure he’s up to the task at hand. Daniel Bruhl (Rush) recently joined the cast as the main villain, no specifics on which of Doctor Strange’s adversaries he will be playing, but the current favourite is Baron Mordo. The Ancient One mentored both Mordo and Strange, so there is a strong indication that this is the direction Marvel are going in.
Doctor Strange arrives in cinemas on November 4, 2016