Marvel’s ‘Doctor Strange’ Has Added Another Star To Join Benedict Cumberbatch And Rachel McAdams

A new actor is set to join Benedict Cumberbatch and Rachel McAdams in the upcoming Marvel film Doctor Strange. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Michael Stuhlbarg is currently in negotiations to join the project, though the role he is being cast for has not been officially declared.

Doctor Strange is set to star Cumberbatch as the lead character and eponymous hero, Stephen Strange. Strange is a neurosurgeon who retires from surgery after a horrible accident and turns into a powerful sorcerer. The film also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, McAdams as the Night Nurse, and Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One.

Although the exact role Stuhlbarg will be playing is unclear at the moment, Cinema Blend is reporting that Stuhlbarg might be set to portray Nicodemus West in the movie. West is a well-known character in the comics and acts as a kind of rival to Doctor Strange.

In fact, West and Strange have a long history together. In the comics, West is the one who performs surgery on Strange after the latter gets in the bad car accident. However, the surgery did not go well, and Strange suffered serious damage to his nerves that prevented him from ever practicing surgery again.

In later years, West felt guilty for being unable to save Strange’s hand and sought out his former friend, who was living in Tibet with The Ancient One. During their encounter, Strange taught West how to use magic. However, West eventually abandoned the training to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical world. Later, he would use his magic to fight his former master in the comic book miniseries Doctor Strange: The Oath.

Whether or not this story will be the one included in the film is yet to be seen. More than likely, the story will be altered slightly and West with have a closer relationship with Strange in the film. If this is the case, then the producers might even feature West as evolving into another bad guy who is responsible for the accident that Strange went through and his subsequent journey to mysticism.

With the main antagonist set to be Baron Mordo, it will be interesting to see exactly what role West will play in the movie. Although it is not likely that he will join Mordo and become another villain in the film, it will be intriguing to see the dynamic between West and Strange unfold in the movie, regardless of the approach the filmmakers take with his story.

Given Stuhlbarg’s past film and TV credits, his inclusion in the movie should also add another layer of depth to the already star-studded cast. In fact, Stuhlbarg’s list of film credits is particularly impressive, and he should have no problem fitting in with the likes of Cumberbatch and McAdams.

Stuhlbarg is most known for his role as Andy Hertzfeld in the recent movie Steve Jobs. In addition to this role, Stuhlbarg is also set to appear in Trumbo as Edward G. Robinson. Furthermore, he has also played a part of a number of different projects, including A Serious Man, where he played Larry Gopnik, Men in Black 3, where he played the role of Griffin, Pawn Sacrifice, and in the hit HBO show Boardwalk Empire, where he appeared as Arnold Rothstein.

Hopefully, producers will soon announce whether or not Stuhlbarg will be a part of the project, and, perhaps more importantly, exactly which role he will be playing. Until then, all we can do is wait for an official announcement on the matter.

Doctor Strange is set to premiere in theaters everywhere on November 4, 2016.

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