Benedict Cumberbatch cast as Dr. Strange

Sigh. Guys. I was about to get a nice headstart on my Tuesday post. We're slow at work and I updated the new comic list and everything. The weirdest thing is that I was reading about Dr. Strange, both as a character and as the upcoming movie. Grantland recently posted an article about how hard it is to cast Dr. Strange. So here I am, talking to my girlfriend about these Doc Strange articles I read when she bashes me for not telling her the news I was clearly building to. The only news I had, on the other hand, was how ridiculous the stories tied to his STRANGE TALES appearances were ("Human Torch and Thing meet the Beatles!" "The Mad Thinker's maddest plot yet: BOUNCING BALL OF DOOM!" "The Terrible Toys!"). So she broke the news to me: Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch has signed on to play Dr. Strange in Marvel's upcoming Dr. Strange movie.

Really big move here for Marvel, who has largely been casting lesser-known actors in their key hero roles lately (particularly as said roles tend to come attached to multi-picture deals). Paul Rudd was one of the bigger stars tied to a protagonist in the MCU (Robert Downey Jr. was in rebuilding mode when Iron Man turned his career right around, Chris Evans was great but not big when he signed on as Cap, and Chris Hemsworth was a relative unknown when he was cast as Thor) and now Cumberbatch moves from giant geek strongholds in Sherlock and Star Trek right over to the Marvel Universe. I hadn't even heard his name in relation to this movie yet but here it is, front-page on IMDb. On top of that, I think it's a pretty strong move. Cumberbatch has the weight and range of someone playing the mysterious Strange, though it begs the question which Strange is going to show up here. The aforementioned (and aforelinked) Grantland article does a great job giving a rundown on Strange's history and the many personality change he's undergone in his existence, including one more Sherlock Holmesian sort of run. Will Marvel typecast Cumberbatch here or let him show a little more range? The article also mentions that Marvel Studios mastermind Kevin Feige wants a more Ditko sort of feel to the movie, a world Sherlock Holmes may not work in. Still, really big news and a really interesting move overall. Should be a lot of fun going forward as we now have our character, director (Scott Derrickson), and lead all worked out.