My dear readers, I don’t know if you’re on as little sleep as I am, but let me walk you through this slowly to verify we’re all on the same page with this casting news (THR, who broke the story, apparentlywasn’t,since they originally had a picture of the wrong actor … now corrected).Doctor Strangehas castBenedict Wong(The Martian) as Wong, the character.Doctor Strange, of course, starsBenedict Cumberbatch. Two Wongs, two Benedicts. Sit with it, let it all come together clearly.
Ready? Wong (the character, and according to Wikipedia — I admittedly have no knowledge of him) is a Marvel mainstay, and functions as Doctor Strange’s “sidekick and manservant.” Wong comes from a family of monks, and is a master martial artist, has great knowledge of the dark arts, though he has no magical powers of his own. He also is tasked with looking after Strange’s body when he is, you know, astral projecting into other dimensions.As you do.
If you recognize Wong – the actor – it’s likely fromThe Martian(his scenes were few, yet he stole each and every one as the harried Jet Propulsion Lab Director), or possibly from Netflix’sMarco Poloas Kublai Khan (it was an ambitious series, but also a bit of a mess), or evenPrometheus(ditto).
A few months ago, Marvel confirmed that the movie’s cast is as follows: “Rachel McAdamsplays ‘a fellow surgeonthat has history with Strange,’Mads Mikkelsenplaysan evil sorcererwho breaks off into his own sect,’Tilda Swintonplays Strange’s mystical shepherdThe Ancient One, andChiwetel Ejioforplays fellow sorcerer and future rival Baron Mordo.” You can check out a few of the film’s first imageshere.
Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson and focusing on the story of renowned neurosurgeon Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) discovering the mystic arts and alternate dimensions after a near fatal car accident, is slated to debut November 4th.
