Marvel’s plan to add Doctor Strange to its cinematic universe took a big leap forward earlier this month when Scott Derrickson was hired to direct the film based on the adventures of Dr. Stephen Strange. As part of the movie’s evolving state, the company is in the process of hiring Prometheu****s’ Jon Spaihts to re-write the script.
Doctor Strange was originally conjured from the brains of Stan Lee and art genius Steve Ditko, and began life as a selfish New York surgeon who loses his professional skills in a car crash. After falling on hard times, he visits a healer in the Himalayas known as The Ancient One, and learns to tap into psychic powers. In recognition of his selfless efforts to thwart evil fellow disciple Baron Mordo, he’s taught the mystical arts and sets out to defeat other shady sorcerers and various villains.
Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer produced the first draft of the script, which Spaihts, assuming his deal goes through, will work from. In addition to his work on Ridley Scott’s sci-fi outing, he’s also been writing a new version of **The Mummy **for Universal, **The Black Hole **reboot for Disney and the still-gestating space drama Passengers, which has Keanu Reeves attached to star.
So far, Marvel has made no announcement about a release date – that could come at next month’s Comic-Con – and still appears to be at the wish list stage of casting the leading man, with Deadline reporting that Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch are both in its sights, with Jared Leto a more recent candidate. You can see our suggestions right here.