Fancast: Doctor Strange

A Doctor Strange movie has been in the works for a couple of years now, and nothing has come to fruition. However, if it ever makes it pass the development stage, it would be a very nice addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Anyway, I've decided to go a little further with my usual director choice and also include a producer, writer, and composer choice.



Director: Alfonso Cuaron. The guy's pretty underrated in my opinion, and has had experience with the fantasy genre since he directed the third Harry Potter film.

Producer: Darren Aronofsky. He's been linked to several CBM's in the past, so it'll be nice if had some part in making a CBM. Anyway, he's great at dark material and could easily portray Strange's downward spiral after his accident.

Writer: Neil Gaiman. His work on Sandman and Marvel 1602 proves he has the qualifications to write a Doctor Strange movie.

Composer: Clint Mansell. The guy is a very underrated composer and a frequent collaborated with Aronofsky. Check out this track he wrote for The Fountain and tell me that he's a perfect addition for a Doctor Strange movie.



Anyway, on with the cast.

Heroes:

James Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, The Prisoner) as Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme: A brilliant, yet arrogant surgeon whose hands were damaged beyond repair in a car accident. Strange sought out the Ancient One, who taught him the mystic arts of magic, and soon he became the Sorcerer Supreme. Strange is a master magician and draws his powers from several mystical entities, such as the Vishanti (Hoggoth, Oshtur, and Agamotto) and the Octessence (Balthakk, Cyttorak, Farallah, Ikonn, Krakkan, Raggadorr, Valtorr, and Watoomb). These entities usually lend their power to a particular effect, such as the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, which are used by Strange to entrap foes. Strange can use magic to achieve virtually any effect he desires, such as telepathy, energy blasts, teleportation, astral projection, the creation of materials (such as food and water), creating planet-wide protective shields, restoring himself from bodily destruction or resurrecting the dead, stopping and reversing time, sealing black holes, restoring universes, absorbing enough power to unconsciously destroy any surrounding galaxies, growing to the size of and merging with universal concepts, and helped to channel the mass of the entire universe. Strange uses magical artifacts to augment his power, such as the Cloak of Levitation, the Eye of Agamotto, the Book of the Vishanti, and the Orb of Agamotto.



Reason for Casting: I wanted to go with a pick for Strange that isn't Patrick Dempsey (too pretty boy and would be better as Iron Man) or Johnny Depp (good actor, but too eccentric for Strange). I originally wanted to go with Benedict Cumberbatch, but I decided that he didn't have the right look for Strange (Strange has squared facial features while Cumberbatch has a rounded face). I settled on Caviezel because he has the right voice and presence for Strange. He has had Strange's look down in The Count of Monte Cristo.

Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hawaii Five-0) as Wong: A Chinese monk and Strange's faithful servant. While he is not trained in the Mystic Arts, he is highly trained in martial arts, having achieved mastery in Kamar-Taj.



Reason for Casting: I love Kim on Lost, and I think he has what it takes to play Wong. Even though he doesn't know Martial Arts, he can always train to learn them.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat, Tekken) as The Ancient One: The previous Socerer Supreme, who was the teacher of Strange and Baron Mordo. As the previous Sorcerer Supreme, he was a master magician and possessed mystic artifacts that augmented his power.



Reason for Casting: I think Cary would do good in this role. He has a presence and voice that fits the Ancient One very well.

Rachel Weisz (The Fountain, The Constant Gardener) as Clea: A human appearing being who is a descendent to the Faltine energy beings. She is the nice of the demonic Dormmamu and lover of Stephen Strange. Clea can manipulate the forces of magic for a variety of effects, such as transmutation, forming and throwing magical bolts of concussive energy, magically constructed animate beings, conjuring objects and energies, teleporting, telekinesis, levitation, mesmerism, thought-casting, controlling others' minds, casting illusions, and the tapping of extra-dimensional energy by invoking entities or objects of power existing in dimensions tangential to Earth's through the recitation of spells. As a Faltine descendent, she can generate her own mystical energy and draw upon it to fuel her magic.



Reason for Casting: Kudos to tweeeeenkies3 for suggesting this pick. Anyway, Weisz is a fantastic actress who's experienced in the genres of Fantasy and Science Fiction. She'd be great as Clea.

James Earl Jones (The Star Wars Trilogy, The Lion King) as Eternity: An Entity that is the personification of the universe itself. He has encountered Doctor Strange. Eternity has the powers of virtual omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, and total control over magic, matter, energy, reality and time.



Reason for Casting: For a character like Eternity, you need somebody with a powerful voice and presence, and Jones possess both. If you don't believe me, then check out this clip from The Lion King:



Villains:

Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legend) as Dormammu (voice): A once-humanoid sorcerer from the Faltine dimension, who now rules over the Dark Dimension, having traded his human form for one of mystic energy. Dormammu has often tried to take over the Earth dimension, but has been thwarted by Doctor Strange. Dormammu is immortal and can manipulate mystic energies for any effect he desires, such as energy projection, matter transmutation, size shifting, teleportation, body possession, resurrection of the dead, bestowing of power, and creating demon lords. He also uses a slave race called The Mindless Ones as his minions.



Reason for Casting: Tim Curry is a pretty spectacular voice actor. It was seeing him in Ridley Scott's Legend as the Lord of Darkness that convinced him to cast him. His voice was sinister, powerful, and down right evil.

Christian Bale (the Dark Knight trilogy, The Fighter) as Baron Mordo: A former student of the Ancient One, whose attempts to kill him were thwarted by Strange. He was exiled, and became a disciple of Dormmamu. Mordo possesses similar powers to Strange, but is particularly skilled at astral projection, hypnosis, and mesmerism. He is also more willing to use black magic and invoke demons.



Reason for Casting: I've Bale casted as Doctor Strange himself, but I don't really see (mainly because I want him to play a villain again). Anyway, the dude's a chameleon of an actor, and has experience with magic based on his work in The Prestige. He'd make a great Mordo to Caviezel's Strange.

Famke Janssen (the X-Men films, Taken) as Umar: The sister of Dormammu and the mother of Clea. Like Dormmamu, she is a Faltine, but is trapped in her human form. Umar is a gifted sorceress, and has the ability to manipulate the forces of magic for a variety of effects, including inter-dimensional teleportation, size transformations, time travel, transmutations, energy manifestations such as powerful concussive blasts, magically constructed animate beings, telepathy, illusion-casting, and limited mind-control.



Reason for Casting: The main reason for casting Janssen was that she's simply great at playing evil (Goldeneye, The Faculty, X-Men: The Last Stand, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters). She's more suited for Umar than she ever was for Jean Grey.

Jason Isaacs (Brotherhood, Good) as Mephisto: The demonic ruler of a Hell-like dimension and the first of the Hell-Lords. He is known by many names, but is mostly associated with the Devil. Being a demonic, immortal entity, he possesses magical powers and abilities gained by manipulation of the forces of magic. These include superhuman strength, shape and size shifting, projecting illusions, manipulating memories, altering time,and is highly resistant to injury.



Reason for Casting: Isaacs is a pretty talented actor who has become a pretty popular pick for the Green Goblin. However, I see him more as Mephisto. He's great at playing manipulative and evil. He'd make a very memorable and scary Mephisto (no offense to Peter Fonda).

Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as Nightmare: A Fear Lord from the dimension of Everinnye. He rules the Dream Dimension, where tormented humans are brought during their sleep. He roams this realm on his demonic black horned horse named Dreamstalker. He appears as a chalk-white man with wild green hair, a green bodysuit, and a ragged cape. Nightmare draws power from the psychic energies of the subconscious minds of dreaming beings. He also uses a wand that is capable of generating a maze which is nearly impossible to escape.



Reason for Casting: I originally had Cumberbatch for Strange, but I decided against it. He's a fanatic actor with a rich, baritone voice and a subtle madness to him that works for Nightmare.

Clancy Brown (Highlander, God of War III) as the Dweller-In-Darkness (voice):A demon from the dimension Everinnye, who was shunned by his people for following "The Way of the Shamblu". The Dweller has the ability to generate fear in other living beings. This fear in turn increases his abilities and keeps him alive. He is also immortal and possesses superhuman strength.



Reason for Casting: Brown is a great and talented voice actor. It was his performances as Parallax in Green Lantern and Hades in God of War III that convinced me to case him as the Dweller. A combination of both of those voices is what I imagine the Dweller to sound like.

Steve Blum (Cowboy Bebop, The Legend of Korra) as Satannish (voice): A very powerful extra-dimensional demon who is known for granting mortals mystical power in exchange for their souls. He is a creation and agent of Dormammu and the father of Daimon Hellstrom and Satana. Satannish has mystical powers that allow him to open portals, to send mystical rays to him, to create mystical barriers and other multiple abilities.



Reason for Casting: Blum is one of my favorite voice actors, who is probably known best as the voice of Wolverine. I think he could do wonders with Satannish. His work as Killer Croc in Batman: Arkham Asylum is what I imagine Satannish to sound like.

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