Though it hasn’t been officially confirmed, all the signs are pointing to Nightmare being the villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The ruler of the Dream Dimension would be the perfect antagonist for what’s being called the first horror-infused movie in the MCU, so you obviously need a great performer to bring them to life. And according to this new leak, Marvel is casting the net wide to find the perfect actor – or actress – for the part.
As per a 4Chan post that was soon deleted, but also shared on Reddit, a host of high-profile names, both male and female, are being eyed for Nightmare in Doctor Strange 2. Actresses under consideration allegedly include Eva Green, Natalie Dormer, Emily Blunt and Claire Foy, while the actors Marvel is eyeing are Ewan McGregor, Dan Stevens, Jared Leto and James McAvoy, among others.
McAvoy, of course, is fresh off playing Professor X in Fox’s X-Men movies for the past eight years. We know that Marvel is set to reboot the mutants in the MCU later down the line, so it would be ironic if the Scottish star gets to portray a different role in the franchise. He did suggest he’d like to play a Batman villain recently, so he might be up for tackling Nightmare instead.
It’s interesting that nearly all the names featured in this leak – excluding Leto and the French-born Green – are British as well, which may tell us something about how director Scott Derrickson envisions the character, even if their gender remains fluid. We Got This Covered has previously heard that Matt Smith is also being eyed, while another report has pointed to David Tennant, too. Though it’s unclear if the former Doctor Who stars are still in consideration.
In any case, Marvel’s clearly on the hunt for someone talented enough to go toe-to-toe with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme, and we’ll see the battle in action when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters on May 7th, 2021.