Originally published December 28, 2015. Updated March 2, 2020.
Following the release of several first look pictures from Doctor Strange, Entertainment Weekly has just revealed that actor Mads Mikkelsen will be playing the main antagonist in the upcoming Marvel film.
Mikkelsen, who is best known for his work on NBC’s Hannibal, officially joined the cast of the film back in November, and while it was heavily speculated that he would be playing a villain, those reports were never confirmed, until now of course.
Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president, told the outlet that in the film, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange and Tilda Swinton’s The Ancient One are both sorcerers that defend the universe against such evil forces as Mikkelsen’s character. He said, “We will take audiences through sort of a guide to the multiverse, other dimensions, and there are amazing things out there — wonders that are going to be hopefully visually extremely interesting and unique to this movie. But there are also very scary things in these other dimensions.”
On the villain, Feige continued, “Mads’ character is a sorcerer who breaks off into his own sect. [He] believes that the Ancient One is just protecting her own power base and that the world may be better off if we were to allow some of these other things through.”
The name of Mikkelsen’s character is being kept a secret for now, and Stephen Broussard, executive producer of Doctor Strange, says, “I’ve seen lots of names thrown around. No one has quite picked the name that we’ve chosen for him. It would be fun to conceal that, if we can.”
Doctor Strange isn’t the only big-budget, high-profile film Mikkelsen will be starring in next year, as he is also on board for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
SEE ALSO: Follow all of our Marvel Cinematic Universe coverage here
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
