10 Superhero Films You Won't Believe Could Have Happened

7. Guillermo Del Toro's Doctor Strange

Remember when Marvel announced a Doctor Strange film? The internet was rife with not only fan-castings, but wishlists about who the director should be.

One of the names that inevitably popped up every time (Every. Single. Time.) was Guillermo del Toro, and with good reason: he's an immensely talented director whose sensibilities lie in the spooky, supernatural, and esoteric. With a pedigree that includes Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth, and the first two Hellboy films (THE ONLY ONES WORTH MENTIONING), he seems a good fit. Apparently, he thought so, too.

Back in 2007, del Toro and Sandman writer, Neil Gaiman, pitched their idea for a Doctor Strange film to Marvel. Here's a quote from del Toro's interview with Empire:

"I said, that’s an interesting character because you can definitely make him more in the pulpy occult detective/magician mould and formula than was done in the Weird Tales, for example...the idea of a character that really dabbles in the occult in a way that’s not X-Filey, where the supernatural is taken for granted. That’s interesting...But I wouldn't use the suit!"

The studio passed on the project, and instead, we got Scott Derrickson, who is set to be replaced by Sam Raimi for the sequel.