Rumor: Johnny Depp Meeting With Marvel ABout DR. STRANGE

Outside of 2015’s Ant-Man we have no concrete facts about what Marvel Studios’s plans will be for their interconnected cinematic superhero universe after the Avengers sequel Age Of Ultron. Studio president has long hinted that there is a film in the works that will showcase Dr. Strange, Marvel Comics main supernatural magician superhero.

So, who is Marvel thinking about to play their Sorcerer Supreme? According to the hot rumor this morning, the studio is interested in none other than Johnny Depp.

This rumor is being sourced to Latino Review, so once again we need to reiterate our standard doubts about the site’s “sources.”

But breaking things down, it is conceivable that Marvel might be interested in Depp for the role. They do like their big name casting, as it helps lend an air of authenticity and respectability to their films. And with being one of the biggest box office draws in the world, he would definitely be helpful in getting people into theaters to see a film featuring a character that non-comic book fans may not be immediately familiar with. Also in the plus column is that Depp has a great relationship with Marvel’s parent company Disney, thanks to the Pirates Of The Caribbean series.

Of course, that may also prove to be hitch, as the fifth Pirates film is currently scheduled for 2016 roughly the same time frame that a Dr. Strange film may hit theaters. It wouldn’t be inconceivable for Depp to film both projects in order for them to be ready for release in the same year, but it would probably take some big coordination to get everyone’s schedules in alignment.

The other thing that leads me to believe that this might not lead to anything concrete is that while they do like to have big names attached to their film, they don’t necessarily like to pay the price tag that is attached to those names. And while last summer’s The Lone Ranger was pretty much a disaster for all involved, I don’t think that it really affected Depp’s quote. He would need a number of stinkers in a row to really affect his own paycheck.

But with Ant-Man news just starting to dominate the Marvel Studios news cycle, I don’t think we’ll be hearing anything definite on what the studio has planned beyond that for some time. File this one under “Take with a grain of salt.”