This has been a big week for casting for Marvel Studios. Michael Douglas and Michael Pena were added to Edgar Wright’s ‘Ant-Man’ and Johnny Depp was rumored to star as the Sorcerer Supreme in ‘Doctor Strange’. However, as soon as those rumors about Captain Jack Sparrow jumping ship to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they were just as quickly squashed a day later.
According to Deadline, there’s no truth to the rumor of Depp’s involvement in the unofficial Phase Three film. While they allude to talks actually occurring, they weren’t any time recently:
Photo creidt: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com“I’m told by Marvel moles there is really nothing to this rumor about Johnny Depp playing Stephen Strange in ‘Dr. Strange’ for Marvel Studios. The story’s being bannered by Variety online, but don’t dress for it. I’m told that Depp was approached eons ago, and it never went anywhere.”
So if not the captain of the Black Pearl, then who? Apparently, a womanizing New York ad man. According to This Is Infamous, Jon Hamm is a lock to play the Master of the Mystic Arts. With his hit AMC show ‘Mad Men’ coming to an end soon, he’d definitely be free to take on the role. Despite rumors that Marvel was looking for a younger actor to play the Avenger and Defender like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it appears that they’re not afraid to go older if they found the right amount of star power, as they proved by speaking with Depp. Also, Robert Downey Jr. was about the same age as Hamm when he first appeared as Iron Man. With talks of making ‘Doctor Strange’ the new hub of the Marvel Cinematic Universe similar to the 2008 Tony Stark adventure, maybe the studio is willing to take a chance and go for an older actor once again. I mean, they did just cast Michael Douglas as Ant-Man. Plus, let’s not forget that Hamm is a pretty good actor to boot, so if he indeed lands the role, I feel like it would be welcome news.
However, there is one small detail that has recently emerged that might discredit any rumors concerning Strange’s big screen debut. Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter posted on his Twitter recently that a script isn’t even finished yet:
Doc Strange now: They don’t have a script and are looking for writers to completely start over.
— Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) January 14, 2014
Even if there weren’t a completed script yet, I wouldn’t call it far-fetched to hear that Marvel is already looking for their star of ‘Doctor Strange’. Marvel is one of the biggest entities in all of entertainment and everyone wants to take part in what their doing, so maybe they’d want to get on the train early and ride it all the way to the box office even if a project isn’t fully put together.
So, True Believers, what do you make of all this ‘Doctor Strange’ business? Do you think Jon Hamm would be a good choice to play the Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Or do you take all this as merely rumors and speculation since you haven’t heard anything straight from the horse’s mouth? Sound off in the comment section below.