She’s been rumoured as a potential Doctor Strange cast member for a while, but Rachel McAdams snuck confirmation that she’s at least talking to Marvel during an interview with the LA Times a couple of days ago.
With filming due to kick off in November, director Scott Derrickson has been gathering the people he needs in front of the camera, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, Tilda Swinton a great, if controversial choice to play his teacher in the mystic arts, the Ancient One, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as rival Baron Mordo. As for McAdams, the actress says, "It's still super-early days, and I don't know where that's gonna go, if it's gonna go anywhere at all." If she does sign on, there’s a chance she’ll be Clea, a student of Strange’s and someone who becomes both important to him and can manipulate the mystical realm almost as well as he can. Of course, even if she carries the same name, there’s a chance a lot will change about her on the journey to the screen.
In case you need a refresher on the basics, the film is using the character originally conjured by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Dr. Stephen Strange starts his story as a selfish New York surgeon who loses his professional skills in a car crash. After falling on hard times, he seeks out the Ancient One, and learns to tap into psychic and magical powers. In recognition of his selfless efforts to thwart evil fellow disciple Baron Mordo (Ejiofor, likely playing a more nuanced take on the character), he’s taught the mystical arts and sets out to defeat other shady sorcerers and various villains.
McAdams is currently in the second season of True Detective and on UK cinema screens in Southpaw. She’s also worked on Spotlight, the story of the Boston Globe’s investigation into child molestation within the local Catholic archdiocese, which will hit American screens on November 6.