Director Scott Derrickson reveals that Marvel Studios sacrificed a key release window in order to cast Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange‘s lead role. Benedict Cumberbatch is now synonymous with Marvel’s most famous sorcerer, having appeared in six MCU movies and maintaining a key role in the Marvel multiverse’s overarching story.
In an exclusive interview with SlashFilm, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson explains that even though Joker star Joaquin Phoenix was in talks for the role, he knew that Benedict Cumberbatch had to be the final choice. However, Cumberbatch’s schedule didn’t align with Marvel Studios’ planned summer 2016 release date for the movie. According to Scott Derrickson, the director went directly to Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige and asked him to delay the film, to which Feige accepted and collaborated with Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney chairman Alan Horn to postpone Doctor Strange. Read Derrickson’s comments below:
“So after giving [Joaquin Phoenix’s casting] a shot — we didn’t have a script, either. Keep that in mind. I think what he was very nervous about was he’d be committing to multiple movies, which is not the kind of thing he’s ever done. I just went back to Kevin [Feige] and I just said, ‘We have to move the date because it’s got to be Benedict.’ Kevin went to Bob Iger and Alan Horn, and told them what I said. To their credit, they moved the date and it became a fall movie.”
Source: SlashFilm
