Tilda Swinton makes her way to the Marvel Universe as the actress is in talks to portray the Ancient One, typically a male role, in the upcoming superhero fantasy ‘Doctor Strange.’
The new Marvel film is being recognized as the latest example of the increasing trend of diversification among movies based on comic books.
Benedict Cumberbatch has been set to headline ‘Doctor Strange’ as the Sorcerer Supreme, who is tasked to protect humanity from magical and mystical threats.
In the comics, Swinton’s character serves as a mentor to Strange and is of Tibetan descent; over 500 years old, his powers include teleportation, astral projection and energy blast creation.
‘Doctor Strange’ has been scheduled to hit theaters on Nov. 4, 2016. Despite Cumberbatch’s ability to play characters in movie and TV projects of different genres, the upcoming Marvel movie will be his debut leading role in a highly expensive Hollywood production.
Other actors who were previously considered for the role before Cumberbatch stepped in included Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix.
The news of the possible gender swap in casting Swinton for the Ancient One in ‘Doctor Strange’ comes after Andrea Riseborough was announced as the top contender to portray the antagonist Top Dollar in an upcoming remake of the cult comic book film ‘The Crow.’
Even Marvel recently placed a female Thor forward in its comic books, and the studio aims to introduce its first ever female-led superhero film, ‘Captain Marvel’, in 2018.
The company also made the headlines for casting Idris Elba as Heimdall in the ‘Thor’ movies as well as Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in a number of Marvel films. Such characters had previously been represented by white figures, although one alternate version of Fury showed a black character.
With a high level of ubiquity, Swinton has also appeared in both mainstream and arthouse movies. She previously took on the role of the White Witch in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe', and appeared briefly in its two sequels.
The 54-year-old actress was also highly recognized for her show-stopping performance as Minister Mason in the science fiction thriller ‘Snowpiercer’, which also starred Chris Evans and was released in 2013.
After her appearances in the last two movies by Wes Anderson, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ and ‘Moonrise Kingdom’, Swinton will also star in the Judd Apatow-helmed comedy ‘Trainwreck’ alongside Amy Schumer.
The award-winning actress has already been honored at the Oscars for best supporting actress for ‘Michael Clyaton’ and was also recognized for playing the angel Gabriel in DC Entertainment’s film adaptation of ‘Constantine.’
