Well this is something of a surprise: after seemingly endless talk about how Joaquin Phoenix and Jared Leto were the front-runners for Marvel and Disney's upcoming "Doctor Strange" movie, Deadline is reporting that the studios now have a lock on who will become the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Sorcerer Supreme, and it's none other than... Benedict Cumberbatch.Yay!
Supposedly, Cumberbatch is entering final negotiations (and keep in mind that there is a big Marvel-related media event planned for tomorrow in Los Angeles) for the movie that will eventually be directed by Scott Derrickson and is being written by Jon Spaihts ("Prometheus"). If you have a basement free of old comic books, then we'll inform you that Doctor Strange is a character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the sixties and is easily one of the trippier characters either came up with. He's kind of the last line of defense against supernatural forces that the Marvel Universe has (since the "Sorcerer Supreme" title, something that Doctor Strange recently gave up to Brother Voodoo for a little bit).
After drifting into the cosmos with "Guardians of the Galaxy," it'll be interesting to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe get more magical.