original 212862 Cbi 2C5d1gRI4mkvqlBjG8IxF 225x300 Marvel Going Forward with Dr. Strange!With the recent success of its lesser known characters on film, Marvel Studios is looking into is trove of characters to find the next Iron Man and Thor and it looks like they have found it in Dr. Strange. Twitch Film is reporting that after many months of speculation, a film based on Dr. Strange is moving forward at Marvel.

Twitch has learned that Oppenheimer and Donnelly have now turned in their script and Marvel is pushing forward with the property. Marvel has drafted a short list of directors to approach on the title and is forwarding the current script to each to try and sign someone up to ‘oversee continued development’.

Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Donnelly were charged with writing the script last summer and it seems that Marvel likes what they turned in. Now, as Twitch writes, you can look at the phrase “continued development” in two  ways: Marvel either likes the script that was turned in and would like to give the potential director an opportunity to add their touch before calling it good, or they would like a director to come in and re-work the script from the ground up.

Either way, though, this is a sign that Marvel is committed to the character and are looking at Doctor Strange as a 2013 release. With word out now that Edgar Wright has also turned in his script for Ant-Man the superhero world is about to get a bit weirder.

For those not familiar with the character, Dr. Strange is the story of a confident, if not arrogant, surgeon who is badly injured in a car accident. After much healing and mythical training, he goes on to become Sorcerer Supreme in the Marvel universe, using his magical powers to protect Earth from other-worldly attacks. Like the article says above, this film would talk comic book movies in a whole new direction, even more than Thor did earlier this year.

There are actually several fan-favorites for who should play the role, anyone from Hugh Laurie to Liam Neeson, but one actor seems to be actively campaigning for the role: Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy, Transformers: Dark of the Moon). This geek says give the man a shot! He looks the part and is a capable actor! Why not?