The reports of the amazing Tilda Swinton playing The Ancient One in Doctor Strange have not been greatly exaggerated: the star of Snowpiercer, Only Lovers Left Alive and Michael Clayton will indeed star alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in Scott Derrickson’s Marvel movie.
“It’s done,” she told Screen Crush of her Marvel talks. “We’re so far in talks that we’re not talking any more [laughs]. It’s done. The conversation has been had.”
“Well, there’s no particular interest in getting into something bigger, or even smaller, I just really liked the premise of this and the idea of playing this character. I’m a Marvel fan and I think this particular world that Doctor Strange goes into is really, really, really exciting. I’m really interested as both an actor and a fan to see what’s done in this particular world. It’s all about creativity. It’s not about everything exploding at the end. It’s about something very different. The idea of playing The Ancient One is really just too tickling. I can’t say no to that!”
With regards to her interpretation of the character, Swinton explained that it’s still early days. “You know, I don’t know yet. I haven’t quite figured it out. I will let you know when I know. It’s a bit of an adventure to figure out how to finesse this. But it’s exciting.”
Swinton also responded to Screen Crush’s mention of the fact that Idris Elba had complained about the Marvel schedule. “Really?” she responded. “Oh… I’m up for it completely. I feel sorry for Idris. I’m not prepared at all to be bored by this. I’m really looking forward to it.”
There was no mention of the fact that she was playing a traditionally male Tibetan character, or all those tweets about how amazing she would be as Doctor Strange (because come on, she’d be amazing), but it’s nice to hear that she’s so excited to be a part of it.
Doctor Strange is released 28 October 2016 in UK cinemas. Keep up with the latest comic book movie news with the new issue of SciFiNow.
