Benedict Cumerbatch was a popular choice for the role of Doctor Strange when he was announced last year, but Marvel head-honco Kevin Feige has said that the actor’s popularity nearly cost him the role.
“He was someone that we were very interested in for a very long time,” Feige told EW. “[But] he kept getting more and more popular! Which is not [essential] for us. Chris Pratt was not popular when we cast him in Guardians. That’s not a prerequisite needed for us casting [someone]. But he kept getting more popular, and more popular, and he kept getting busier, and busier, and it looked like the timing wasn’t going to work. So we looked at some other actors for a while and ultimately decided, ‘We have to try and make it work with Benedict and with his schedule.’ Which is why we shifted the production schedule around. He finished Hamlet here in London, and I think had a day off, and then went to Kathmandu, Nepal, to shoot the first day of Doctor Strange.”
“Doctor Strange follows the story of neurosurgeon Doctor Stephen Strange who, after a horrific car accident, discovers the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions.”
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Doctor Strange is set for release on October 28th, 2016 in the UK and November 4th, 2016 in the US, with Scott Derrickson (Sinister) with a cast that includes Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as Stephen Strange, Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer) as The Ancient One, Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) as Baron Mordo and Rachel McAdams (True Detective) and Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) in as-yet-unconfirmed roles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=WD1b1f5FgYA
Originally published December 29, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
