Back when Marvel Studios was looking to cast their Sorcerer Supreme for Doctor Strange, a number of names started doing the rounds. Among them were Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hardy and Ryan Gosling, and while Benedict Cumberbatch would ultimately win the coveted role, fans were keen on seeing any one of those stars play the hero.
It appears as if the studio was also interested in the idea, as they commissioned artist Court Chu to put together a couple of pieces featuring the La La Land lead as Doctor Strange. Taking to his blog to reveal the artwork, it definitely sounds like Marvel may have asked for this in a bid to convince Gosling to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“I worked probably not even a day on some version of ‘Doctor Strange’ years ago. And back then they wanted Gosling.”
It clearly wasn’t enough to convince the actor to say yes to playing Strange, which is probably a good thing, because as talented as Gosling is, he doesn’t exactly look right in the role. Cumberbatch, on the other hand, fits the character like a glove and Gosling has said on many occasions that he’s unsure about a superhero role anyway, so that could have limited how much of his Strange we would have seen in the MCU.
As you no doubt know by now, Cumberbatch is already committed to Thor: Ragnarok and an appearance in Avengers: Infinity War, and given how great his performance was in Doctor Strange, Marvel clearly made the right choice here.
