UPDATE: Joaquin Phoenix In Talks To Play DOCTOR STRANGE For Marvel And Scott Derrickson
He came close to playing Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, but Marvel are now said to be in talks with Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix for the lead role in the Scott Derrickson helmed Doctor Strange. Hit the jump for details!
Marvel Studios are sure to have plenty of big announcements in mind for us at their panel tomorrow, and one of them could potentially be confirmation of this very story as they narrow in on their choice for Doctor Strange! The Wrap reveals that Gladiator and Her star Joaquin Phoenix "has been mentioned most often for the coveted superhero role" and "while insiders caution there is no deal in place yet, multiple sources say Phoenix is in consideration and has had discussions." If it seems surprising that the actor - who shied away from playing Lex Luthor in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - then you obviously don't know Marvel all that well as they're known for making unconventional casting choices and signing up actors you would never expect to see in this type of movie! This isn't confirmed of course and should be viewed as a rumour for the time being, but the site adds that scheduling issues will likely make it impossible for Benedict Cumberbatch or Tom Hardy to play Doctor Strange, while Jared Leto is said to be keen on directing next and Justin Theroux is busy with The Leftovers on HBO. What do you guys think?
UPDATE: The plot thickens as The Playlist have spotted something very interesting...
About The Author:
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.
While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is CBM's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).
Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.