Before yesterday it seemed Joaquin Phoenix just might sign on the dotted line and become the titular character in Marvel’s Doctor Strange (7/8/16) for director Scott Derrickson. Then, suddenly a website named This is Infamous reported Ethan Hawke was now in the running. Hawke having worked with Derrickson on Sinister and, most recently, Deliver Us from Evil seemed an obvious choice for a rumor and just as quickly as the rumor hit the net, MTV posted an interview with Hawke (see below) in which the actor shows interest.
Well, Hawke’s interest may be close to a realization, or it’s at least closer today as Deadline reports Phoenix has dropped out of contention for the role, though at the same time Mike Fleming says the talk of Hawke taking on the role is “speculation run wild”.
At this point it’s becoming harder to actually care who gets cast in any of these movies other than to realize if it’s a personal favorite of yours that lands a major role it just means that’s one less non-Marvel movie they’ll be making, which doesn’t make me smile.