Everything appears to be going well in the development of the much awaited Marvel film 'Doctor Strange.' Only a few weeks after it was announced that Tilda Swinton will play the Ancient One in the movie, another character has been confirmed.
Deadline has just announced Chiwetel Ejiofor's role in the film. The 'Children of Men' actor will be playing Baron Mordo, who is one of Stephen Strange's enemies in the comic books.
However, similar to the gender change on Swinton's character, the supervillain will not be as evil as he appears in the comics.
Baron Karl Amadeus Mordo first appeared in 'Strange Tales #111' released in August 1963. He and Stephen Strange were both mentored by the Tibetan mystic known as the Ancient One. In addition to being an excellent martial artist, the character has an extensive knowledge of magical lore and the ability to conjure demons.
The film will reunite Ejiofor with '12 Years a Slave' co-star Benedict Cumberbatch, who will play the title role.
Ejiofor started out in school plays before nabbing the title role in the 1995 production of 'Othello' at the Bloomsbury Theater. He famously portrayed the fabulous drag queen Lola in 2005's 'Kinky Boots' and starred opposite Denzel Washington in 'American Gangster.'
In 2014, Ejiofor won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Solomon Northup in '12 Years a Slave.'
'Doctor Strange' has encountered several casting and production problems in the past. Several names were attached to direct, including Wes Craven, Guilermo del Toro, Jonathan Levine, Mark Andrews and Stephen Norrington. There were also talks about casting Joaquin Phoenix in the title role.
In late 2014, Marvel announced that Cumberbatch will play Doctor Strange and the film will be directed by Scott Derrickson. The screenplay will be written by Jon Spaihts.
'Doctor Strange' will hit theaters on November 4, 2016.
