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Crazy Rumor Suggests Andy Serkis May Be Doctor Strange

By James DeRuvo (doddleNEWS)

This may be, quite literally, the strangest rumor about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s talk that Andy Serkis may be cast as Doctor Strange! The news has been buzzing around the Internet that the motion capture guru may be making a switch to live action. And since there’s news that he has an actual cameo in The Avengers – Age of Ultron, could it be as Doctor Strange?!

 

Doctor Strange is one of the characters that actually deserves an origin story, and there have been others who have the same theory – that since Andy Serkis is in Age of Ultron, then we can pick up with his story in the solo film. – Clint Gage, Cinefix

It would certainly be an interesting cast. It’s based on the news that Serkis is featured in Age of Ultron in what many believe is an actual role. He’s also featured in the Marvel panel from Comic-Con, and no one is willing to confirm what character he’s playing – although Serkis says it’s definitely not Thanos. “I was really thrilled that Joss Whedon asked me to be involved,” said Serkis. “It's fantastic. I've had a ball working with them, both as performance capture consultant through the Imaginarium, but also being asked to be in it. But I can't say anything more!"

Serkis is providing some consultancy to Mark Ruffalo to improve his motion capture technique for the Hulk in the film, so that indicates we’re going to see a lot of the big Green guy and director Joss Whedon wants to make sure Ruffalo can really knock his MoCap performance out of the park. And what better teacher than the man who single handedly rules the mocap category. But as for Serkis actually getting cast as Strange, well, that’s a bit more interesting, if not problematic. Why?

Well, he’s going to be directing Jungle Book: Origins in 2016 (one of two Jungle Book movies, the other being directed by Jon Favreau), the same year that Doctor Strange is due out. Before that, he’s going to be starring in Star Wars: Episode VII, doing the voice of Baloo for Jungle Book, as well as playing Captain Haddock for two more TinTin movies, due in 2016 as well. So he’s going to be quite busy. But then again, his activity in 2015 seems to be rather limited to Age of Ultron, and could already done. So he may just have time to fit it in. And with Marvel looking at a 2016 release date for Strange, it certainly could work..

“Marvel’s new thing is no more origin stories. So Doctor Strange’s movie no longer has an origin. It begins “in the midst of things. It’s got Doctor Strange all ready established as The Sorcerer Supreme. It’s a totally new script [...] without any of the previous stuff. They’re not even touching the previous script.” – Latino Review

But it is rather odd, especially considering that Marvel is talking about no longer doing origin stories, and just assuming the audience will either know the origin of the character or will buy the comics to learn more. Or more likely, do the origin in flashbacks, or during the opening credits. And Gage at Cinefix believes that if Serkis is introduced as Doctor Strange in Age of Ultron, then the solo feature could just hit the ground running when he goes on his own.

On the other hand, as far as rumors of Doctor Strange casting go, This Is Infamous is reporting that Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) may be in the running as a younger Stephen Strange, while Digital Spy says Jon Hamm (Mad Men) denied meeting with Marvel over playing an older Strange. What does this all mean? We’re not much closer to figuring out who will play Doctor Strange, but we’re betting the film opens in 2016, so expect a casting announcement soon. And it may or may not be Johnny Depp.

What do you guys think?

Sources:

This Is Infamous, Digital Spy

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