Not too long after rumors broke out that Ewan McGregor was in Marvel’s sights for Doctor Strange, Variety released the names of five other actors who are on the studio’s shortlist to play the Sorcerer Supreme. They back up the reports that place McGregor on the list, and add Jake Gyllenhaal, Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke and recent Oscar winners, Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey.
Leto’s name has been in the mix for quite some time now, while Hawke’s name surfaced just before Joaquin Phoenix was taken out of the equation. Gyllenhaal, Isaac, and McConaughey are the new additions, and exciting ones at that.
Variety states that Leto is “aggressively pursuing the mystical part… and despite being notoriously picky about his movie roles, appears ready to get back in front of the camera.” Gyllenhaal, meanwhile, is “quite interested in playing a superhero” after a string of darker and more broody films like this year’s Nightcrawler and last year’s Prisoners. His name has been in several superhero conversations over the years, as he almost replaced Toby Maguire as Spider-Man and was on many fan wishlists for both Batman and Daredevil.
Isaac’s name has been added to the list thanks to the work Disney has seen from him on Star Wars: Episode VII, though I wonder if he’d be able to commit to both high-profile tentpoles at the same time. Perhaps his character doesn’t make it out of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars entry alive, leaving him plenty of time to devote to one of those notorious multi-picture deals from Marvel.
As for McConaughey, there’s doubt that he’d have time for something like Doctor Strange, now that the “McConaissance” has reinvigorated his career. However, Variety notes that “after drawing interest from Phoenix, the studio can get anyone in the room and execs want a star for the part.” McConaughey certainly fits that bill, and was actually once interested in playing Captain America.
As always, we’ll keep you posted about the ever-changing race to find Marvel’s Doctor Strange as more news becomes available. In the meantime, let us know which of these actors you’d like to see nab the coveted role.
Directed by Scott Derrickson, Doctor Strange is slated to hit theaters on July 8th, 2016.