Joaquin Phoenix will not be portraying Doctor Strange in the Phase 3 tent-pole movie for Marvel. When Phoenix’s name came up in casting rumors for Doctor Strange, a lot of people got really excited because he is such a great actor and not someone that anyone expected would take this kind of role. Well, they were right – he is a good actor and he doesn’t want to play this kind of role.
No one should be surprised and, honestly, this is for the better. Seriously, Phoenix has never liked the attention that these kind of roles bring and I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him play Strange in the first movie and then not want to do anymore. With Marvel looking at having Doctor Strange allegedly be the next Iron Man – ie. The new centerpiece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel needed to find someone that would embrace the role.
They need their next Robert Downey Jr.
The only bad thing about Joaquin Phoenix backing out is that Marvel needs to get rolling on this movie, which is supposed to come out in 2016. Marvel has been courting Phoenix since July and he was rumored to be in final negotiations by August. Now, Marvel needs to start looking again.
Honestly, Marvel should just go back to the original rumored names on their list – Benedict Cumberbatch, Jared Leto, Jack Huston and Tom Hardy. Huston looks perfect for the role and might be the cheapest of the actors, Cumberbatch has the geek support behind him, Hardy has been in a major comic book movie when he played Bane and Leto just won an Oscar.
Just pick an actor, make sure he really cares about playing the role, and get moving on the rest of the casting – like who will play Wong. Who do you want to star as Doctor Strange? Let us know in the comment section below.
Source: Deadline