‘Doctor Strange’ Cast Keeps Getting Better And Better As Michael Stuhlbarg Enters Talks
Hot off of starring oppositeX-Men: Apocalypse’s Magneto inSteve Jobs,Michael Stuhlbarghas booked his own big-budget superhero adventure. Stuhlbarg has entered negotiations to star in Marvel Studios’Doctor Strange, which starsBenedict Cumberbatchas the title character.Scott Derricksondirects.
THRbroke news of the Doctor Strange Michael Stuhlbarg casting. Cumberbatch leads the film as Stephen Strange, a hotshot surgeon whose brilliant career is cut short when he injures his hands. In a desperate attempt to heal himself, he stumbles across the discovery of magic. He eventually emerges as the Sorcerer Supreme, which earns him some enemies.Varietyadds that Stuhlbarg will play Nicodemus West.
In the comics, Nicodemus West is the doctor who operates on Strange after his accident. Feeling guilty about his failure to repair Strange’s hands, Nicodemus follows Strange all the way to Tibet. Nicodemus also learns a bit about mystical healing, but abandons his studies prematurely.
Stuhlbarg joins an already incredible cast that also includesRachel McAdamsas the as-yet-unnamed female lead,Tilda Swintonas Strange’s mentor the Ancient One, andChiwetel Ejioforas the villainous Baron Mordo.Mads Mikkelsenis also believed to be in the movie. In all, it’s a lineup more stereotypically suited for an Oscar-bound prestige drama than a big-budget superhero movie. Not that we’re complaining.
Though Stuhlbarg has been acting onscreen for close to two decades, he was better known as a theater actor until his breakout turn in the Coen brothers’A Serious Man. Since then he’s also popped up inHugo,Seven Psychopaths,Lincoln,Blue Jasmine, and the HBO seriesBoardwalk Empire. He’s best known for his dramatic roles (and he currently has a great one inSteve Jobs), but he’s apparently not adverse to fluffier fare; he had a scene-stealing role inMen in Black 3.
Doctor Strangestarts shooting in London this December for release onNovember 4, 2016.
