It’s a role that’s been contested by ardent Marvelites for some time but finally, Marvel has put the rumors to bed after confirming that Hannibal alum Mads Mikkelsen will take point as the chief villain in Doctor Strange.
Entertainment Weekly has the scoop, confirming Mikkelsen’s place among the stars mere hours after showcasing the first slew of official photos for Scott Derrickson’s feature film.
Of course, given that Doctor Strange only entered production in November, it’s still early days on the set of Marvel’s latest origins tale, though executive producer Kevin Feige offered some fleeting details about the mind-bending adventure that awaits moviegoers.
Per EW:
“We will take audiences through sort of a guide to the multiverse, other dimensions, and there are amazing things out there — wonders that are going to be hopefully visually extremely interesting and unique to this movie,” he says. “But there are also very scary things in these other dimensions.” According to Feige, is the job of sorcerers like Strange and The Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton, to protect humanity from such “scary things.”
As for Mikkelsen’s character specifically, Feige was understandably vague, merely hinting that the glowering Dane is on board to portray a sorcerer gone rogue. But will he lock horns with Cumberbatch’s titular mad scientist?
“Mads’ character is a sorcerer who breaks off into his own sect,” says the Marvel Studios boss. “[He] believes that the Ancient One is just protecting her own power base and that the world may be better off if we were to allow some of these other things through.”
Also starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg, Scott Adkins and Amy Landecker, Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange is primed to launch in theaters on November 4, 2016. In the meantime, you can feast your eyes on the first official batch of images for the mystical movie via the gallery below.
