Marvel Movie Casting Roundup: Cumberbatch Is Doctor Strange, Reynolds Is Deadpool

We've got two pretty big casting announcements to report today. Benedict Cumberbatch will play the title role in Doctor Strange, while Ryan Reynolds will play the title role in Deadpool. Both are famous Marvel comics characters, of course. But Doctor Strange is part of Marvel Studios' (i.e. Disney's) Marvel Cinematic Universe, while Deadpool, a mutant, belongs to Fox.

Neither announcement comes as a huge surprise. Marvel and Cumberbatch were deep into negotiations when Marvel announced Phase 3 of the MCU back in October. However, they couldn't iron out the kinks in time, so they went ahead and announced the movie before they had their star.

As for Reynolds, the rumors about him playing Deadpool weren't as fully formed as the Cumberbatch rumors. But seeing as how he played the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and—more importantly—starred in that leaked Deadpool test footage that got the ball rolling on this project, he's been considered a shoe-in since Fox first announced the movie.

Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson, hits theaters November 2016.

Deadpool, directed by Tim Miller, hits theaters February 2016.