Marvel has officially announced the cast for Doctor Strange as its latest superhero movie starts shooting today (November 24).
Benedict Cumberbatch will star as Doctor Stephen Strange, a neurosurgeon who “discovers the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions” following a serious car accident.
The Sherlock actor is joined by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Hannibal‘s Mads Mikkelsen and Steve Jobs/A Serious Man actor Michael Stuhlbarg.
Marvel has yet to announce the supporting cast members’ individual roles, but Swinton has confirmed she is playing the “Ancient One”, a Tibetan mystic who serves as a mentor to Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. The “Ancient One” character has always been a male in Marvel’s Doctor Strange comic books, but the film’s producers have decided to make the character female for the film.
Meanwhile, Ejiofor is rumoured to be playing Baron Mordo, a super-villain who made his Marvel Comics debut in 1963.
Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Deliver Us From Evil) is directing from a script by John Spaihts (Prometheus). Marvel has scheduled the film for release on November 4, 2016.