Johnny Depp In Talks To Play Marvel's Doctor Strange

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has made no secret of his ambition to bring Doctor Strange to the big screen. For those unfamiliar with Strange, he is the Sorcerer Supreme and a master of magic. He serves as the defender of the Earth against possible occult and magical threats €“ which makes him stand apart in those realms from more Earth bound Marvel heroes but he has teamed up with them on occasion €“ including being a founder member of the Defenders, and more recently he was in the New Avengers. Of course with any potential hero, you have to expect casting rumours and boy have we got a big one for you with Doctor Strange. Because the Latino Review announced earlier today that none other than Johnny Depp is being sought for the part. It's something of a fanboy's dream casting for the role as Doctor Strange would be easily within Depp's acting range €“ and since Michael Douglas is now Hank Pym, I think it is safe to say that Marvel films attract massive talent. The main issue will be Depp's availability €“ as he's current scheduled to appear in a sequel to Alice in Wonderland, and also in another Pirates of the Caribbean film. But this is a unique situation, because those two films are being produced by Disney... as will be Doctor Strange. So if anyone can jostle filming schedules around, it's a studio who are trying to cast an actor who has already appeared no less than three billion dollar films for them. However, sources reporting in Variety have denied that any talks have taken place €“ but that reminds me of the denials that were going around about Vin Diesel's casting in Guardians of the Galaxy. As far as Marvel are concerned, Johnny Depp would mean a guaranteed profit for what could be a risky film. Going the magic route could be a slightly difficult route for the Cinematic Universe rather than just making another cash cow Iron Man film. But as with Guardians of the Galaxy, when concerned about a concept, Disney will load it full of stars that fanboys will recognise and non-genre known actors for general fans. You can see this again with the casting of Michael Douglas €“ because if you make a film about a lesser known superhero then you want to make sure it is an excellent film because good reviews + superhero = profits; and one of the most basic and easily controllable ways to do that is to have an excellent cast. Marvel are loading their bases with both Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant Man in the second phase of the Cinematic Universe €“ and if Johnny Depp does get cast as Doctor Strange then I don't think I would be out of place in calling it a home run. Besides, imagine Avengers 3 €“ because if Tony Stark and Doctor Strange were to share scenes it'd be Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp together on screen... and that would be awesome. But what do you think? Do you agree with the casting, or do you have someone else in mind? Leave a comment and let me know below!