Meditate on this. Kevin Feige is dismissing rumors of a hard list of directors who have been considered for a Doctor Strange movie, as well as the idea that Johnny Depp is inches away from starring in it.
Last Friday, The Hollywood Reporter brought us the rumor-y news that Marvel was talking to Mark Andrews (Brave), Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair), Dean Israelite (Welcome to Yesterday), and Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies). It wasn’t too unreasonable to believe: Marvel’s known for being choosy with their directors and for picking folks who are not generally known for work in the superhero genre. It also followed a new resurgence of the perennial rumor that Marvel has a star in mind for a Doctor Strange franchise, featuring the well-preserved, middle aged, dark-haired actor du jour, this time Johnny Depp.
In talking to IGN this week, Feige has dismissed both possibilities.
Well, that article [from The Hollywood Reporter] was true that we’re meeting a lot of people now. That article was not true about who we’re meeting or what level anybody is. But we’re actively looking…
…Doctor Strange would be our — well, depending on when we make it, it could be our 13th, 14th, 15th movie, right? I think if you’re looking to track our decision-making and how we’ve done things, we have a pretty wide track record now where you can sort of see. So, no, a movie star is not required, but that doesn’t mean a movie star wouldn’t be great. It just depends.
To his credit, Feige admitted that there’s a good reason why Doctor Strange has had such a history of exciting rumors that have gone no where. The project is simply one that’s been around for a long time at Marvel Entertainment.
When you have a project that’s been around as long as Doctor Strange, there is sometimes, “Oh, I’ve met with Stan about this! Or I did that!” So Strange is one of those projects that predates me by a long shot. Obviously, the character does, but even in its cinematic brewing. So there’s a lot of things that have happened before me, and I’ve been here 14 years. So that’s a long time ago. I don’t know if that happened then.
So now at least we know who isn’t being considered to direct Doctor Strange! If and when it ever becomes an actual movie.
(via /Film.)
