Earlier this summer, we reported that Chiwetel Ejiofor had signed on to Marvel’s Doctor Strange to play Baron Mordo, the film’s ostensible villain. According to a new report from Variety, though, he might not be the only looking to antagonize Benedict Cumberbatch’s Strange and his mentor, Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One. That’s because Hannibal’s Mads Mikkelsen is apparently “in early talks to play one of the villains” in the film, which is particularly interesting for two reasons: First, Mads Mikkelsen is a dreamboat, especially if your idea of a “dreamboat” is the tunnel scene from Willy Wonka. Second, Variety won’t say who Mikkelsen might be playing, just that he’d be a bad guy, which means we get to show off our comic book knowledge and make some guesses.
In the comics, Doctor Strange doesn’t have many famous adversaries, with the list basically beginning and ending with Baron Mordo. However, being the world’s best magic guy, he tends to encounter especially powerful supernatural enemies that are more interesting than simple “magic guys who are bad.” One such enemy is Mephisto, a Marvel villain who is basically Satan. Bringing in Mephisto would make a fair amount of sense—since he’s been known to hang out with future Avengers antagonist Thanos—but our guess as to who Mikkelsen will be playing is Dormammu, a flame-headed demon guy who outranks almost every other Marvel villain ever and happens to have a powerful grudge against The Ancient One and (by association) Doctor Strange himself. Plus, he has a rad name.
Doctor Strange is being directed by Scott Derrickson, and it will be in theaters on November 4, 2016.
