It seems at this point that everyone wants a piece of Benedict Cumberbatch in Hollywood. And now Guillermo del Toro is added to the list, wanting to cast the critically lauded actor as the titular character of 'Frankenstein'.
It definitely makes sense due to Cumberbatch starred in Danny Boyle's stage production of the story, as he switched between the two lead characters (Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his creature) with Jonny Lee Miller (funnily the star of CBS' Sherlock adapation series.) Cumberbatch slowly came to fame through his roles in 'Atonement', 'War Horse' and 'Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy', but had immersed to true Hollywood stardom in his acclaimed role of Sherlock Holmes in the BBC adaptation series, 'Sherlock'. He then furthermore earned critical praise with his most recent role as the popular villain Khan Noonien Singh in J.J. Abram's Stark Trek sequel.
Whilst an interesting but reasonable choice made by del Toro, there are two aftermaths of this decision: Cumberbatch is collaborating with del Toro early 2014 for the gothic horror film 'Crimson Peak'. This provides the best opportunity for negotations to take place on the possibility of his casting. However, this conflicts with del Toro's endless list of future projects he has desire to create (Crimson Peak, Pacific Rim 2, Saturn and the End of Days, Van Helsing reboot, Haunted Mansion, At the Mountains of Madness, do I really need to go on?).
Personally, I am definitely one of the people that follows Cumberbatch with all his roles, strongly affirmative that he is a very succesful, diverse actor that can take on almost any role, so I for one would be quite excited to see him take on this character, if del Toro is able to get to the project someday soon. So for now, wishful thinking.