doctor strange

Marvel needs to hurry up and confirm someone for Doctor Strange. Every other day, there's another rumor about a different tall, dark and brooding actor set to play The Sorcerer Supreme. Today isn't any different.

Deadline is reporting that every girl's dream, Benny C, is already in talks with Marvel Studios. Kevin Feige's not so secret press conference is tomorrow, so there's hope that this'll finally be settled. Until then, we'll keep our skepticism:

Marvel provided the following statement to Mashable in response to the heated speculation over potential whitewashing of Tilda Swinton's 'The Ancient One' character in Doctor Strange:

"Marvel has a very strong record of diversity in its casting of films and regularly departs from stereotypes and source material to bring its MCU to life. The Ancient One is a title that is not exclusively held by any one character, but rather a moniker passed down through time, and in this particular film the embodiment is Celtic. We are very proud to have the enormously talented Tilda Swinton portray this unique and complex character alongside our richly diverse cast."

Doctor Strange screenwriter C. Robert Cargill provided the following reasoning for his changing of the character for the film:

"He originates from Tibet, so if you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that he's Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that’s bullshit and risk the Chinese government going, 'Hey, you know one of the biggest film-watching countries in the world? We’re not going to show your movie because you decided to get political,'" said Cargill. "If we decide to go the other way and cater to China in particular and have him be in Tibet… if you think it’s a good idea to cast a Chinese actress as a Tibetan character, you are out of your damn fool mind and have no idea what the f*ck you’re talking about."

What do you make of all this?

And of course the trailer, in case you need a refresh on that Doctor Strange hype:

Doesn't get much better than this. And the faith in Cumberbatch being able to do this role justice definitely went up a little, now that we know he's at least read one comic book. Indeed, it turns out Cumberbatch's ideal way to commemorate being done shooting 'Doctor Strange' was to pit stop at a local comic book shop fully attired as Stephen Strange. A picture of Cumberbatch with the owner of JHU Comic Books, Rene Rosa:



And of course the obligatory, shameless Stephen Strange selfie moment:

In an interview with the folks running Daredevil on Netflix, /Film uncovered this neat tidbit of information:

Daredevil fans might appreciate one trivia tidbit about why Rosario Dawson’s character on the show is Claire Temple, rather than Linda Carter, aka Night Nurse. The simple reason is that we might see Night Nurse in a Marvel movie! “The feature side had plans for her down the road so that was the only time we ran into a conflict,” DeKnight said. “So we just used another name.”

It looks like Tilda Swinton is beating out Morgan Freeman, Bill Nighy and Ken Watanabe for the role of The Ancient One, the mentor and ally of Stephen Strange. Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, is a former surgeon who after injuring his hands, discovers the supernatural world of magic and demons.

The Ancient One helps Strange become Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, and a prime candidate for The Avengers. While, The Ancient One has typically been portrayed as male, Tilda Swinton seems like the perfect choice to play an ethereal, immortal figure not of this world.