Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Name Thrown Into The Doctor Strange Rumor Pile

Even before he emerged as one of the stronger elements of last summer's The Dark Knight Rises, Joseph Gordon-Levitt made just about every casting shortlist in Hollywood. It's only since then, though, that the Internet has obsessed about every single one of them. Once rumored to star in Guardians of the Galaxy and to cameo at the end of Man of Steel, Gordon-Levitt has now been thrown into the mix of yet another hotly anticipated superhero project: Marvel's still-rumor-only Doctor Strange movie.

The rumor that Gordon-Levitt might play Doctor Strange comes from Latino Review, where even they admit it's a pretty fuzzy rumor. Saying that Gordon-Levitt is who Marvel wants to play the character, they couch it with a whole lot of disclaimers:

Now at press time, we are not saying that an offer has been made, that talks have even engaged and who knows, Levitt and his team are probably unaware, BUT we are hearing that Marvel execs internally are discussing that Levitt is who they figure would be ideal.

Essentially what this rumor means is that at Marvel, they're having the same kinds of conversations that comic book fans have amongst themselves all the time, debating which actor would be best at bringing a given comic book character to life. The only difference is they're Marvel, and they have the ability to call agents, dangle large paychecks, and negotiate gigantic contracts. Could they make Gordon-Levitt as Doctor Strange happen? Absolutely. Does the fact that they're talking about it make it any more likely? Not really. If you had asked me last week which 30-something actors Marvel was probably considering to play the character, Gordon-Levitt probably would have made the list, simply because he's popular and clearly willing to make superhero movies. It's not that much of a leap to assume that Marvel had the same idea.

As for the Doctor Strange movie itself, which has been in the works for at least three years, signs suggest that we might get an official announcement about it at Marvel's Saturday Comic-Con panel, much like the way Edgar Wright finally confirmed his Ant-Man movie last year. Though most of the recent Doctor Strange rumors have come from Latino Review themselves, operating off the script from Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, Marvel themselves have also set aside a handful of release dates, one of which could easily belong to Doctor Strange. As often as Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has mentioned Doctor Strange, it seems impossible that they don't have something in mind. Does that something include Joseph Gordon-Levitt? It's as likely as not. But if any news breaks at Comic-Con this Saturday, you'll hear it from us first. Click here to follow our up-to-the-minute Con coverage as it happens.

Katey Rich

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend