It’s official, the Doctor Strange movie has its title actor, and the legendary Marvel character will be played by Benedict Cumberbatch.
As TG reported previously, Joaquin Phoenix was the main frontrunner for some time until talks broke down, and other actors that were being considered included Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto, Tom Hardy, Justin Theroux, Ethan Hawke, and Keanu Reeves.
Yet it looks like Cumberbatch’s schedule, which was originally an issue, will now work out for him to get Strange, and of course, the guy’s got major geek cred from playing Sherlock, Khan, and Doctor Who.
As expected, the Twittersphere went nuts with the news, and some choice tweets that the Hollywood Reporter reprinted included, “Hope Dr. Strange never runs into penguins,” “Can’t wait to get my Benedict Cumberbatch Doctor Strange action figure,” and a tweet from comics writer J.M. DeMatteis, who called the news “the best comics-to-screen casting since Robert Downey as Iron Man.”
Doctor Strange is slated to hit theaters on July 8, 2016.
