With this year’s San Diego Comic-Con only days away, we’re expecting an incredible outpouring of new projects, surprise announcements, and incomparable fanfare. But Latino Review is jumping the gun yet again, especially when it comes to the rumored Marvel Studios Phase Three film ‘Doctor Strange’. For some time now, they’ve been dropping scoops with details about the plot, but now they have a new casting report that’s sure to send the internet into a frenzy if it’s true.
According to El Mayimbe, talk of the town pegs ‘Looper‘ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ star Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the lead in the Sorcerer Supreme’s first live action feature film. His sources say that the current version of the script calls for someone in their early 30s, so JGL certainly fits the bill at 32. And this isn’t the first time Marvel has had eyes on charming HitRECord founder. Previously, he was in line for the role of Star-Lord in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ before Chris Pratt landed the part, but he opted to take a role in Robert Rodriguez’s long-awaited sequel, ‘Sin City: A Dame To Kill For’, instead.
Who didn’t love ‘Angels In The Outfield’?The report also notes that no offer has been made and that it’s possible that neither the actor nor his reps are aware of Marvel’s desire to have him in their movie. Chances are that the sources saw a wish list of actors with JGL’s name on the top on some executive’s desk and passed along the news that sparked this rumor.
Now, I’m a big fan of Gordon-Levitt. I have been since ‘3rd Rock From The Sun’ and ’10 Things I Hate About You’. However, I don’t feel like he’s the right choice to play Stephen Strange. Since this movie has been talked about for some time, a lot of great names have been mentioned in discussions about the good doctor, but the ‘Don Jon’ director was not one of them. Don’t misunderstand: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is great! To me, he just doesn’t seem suited for this particular role. I could see people like Timothy Olyphant, Joseph Issacs, Joseph Fiennes, Patrick Dempsey, and Aidan Gillen (Little Finger from ‘Game of Thrones’) perfectly embodying the character because they have a certain arrogance and snark about them that JGL just doesn’t have and all the while still remaining likable.
As previously reported, Marvel is looking to make ‘Doctor Strange’ the ‘Iron Man’ of Phase Three. This is being set up to be the next big franchise, so they need to get everything just right in order for that to happen. While Joseph Gordon-Levitt is very adored and highly sought after these days, he just doesn’t seem like the right choice. Marvel has always surprised us with their casting choices and they’ve managed to make the right choices every time even when the public was skeptical, but if this actually goes down, it might be the studio’s first misstep.
What do you think about the possibility of Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing the lead in ‘Doctor Strange’? Would you welcome his casting with open arms or are do you feel like it isn’t right? Share your thoughts in the comments below.