Exclusive: Denzel Washington Offered Doctor Strange 3 Villain
He apparently didn’t want to eat worlds as Galactus, but the world-eater isn’t the only powerful threat in the MCU. According to our trusted and proven sources, before the SAG-AFTRA strike began, Denzel Washington was offered the role of Dormammu, who will be the villain of the upcoming Doctor Strange 3. Our sources also say Sam Raimi will return to direct the threequel, and that Raimi’s involvement has Washington much more interested than he was in Fantastic Four‘s Galactus.
We’ve exclusively learned that Denzel Washington has been offered the role of Marvel villain Dormammu for Doctor Strange 3.
While this would mark the first screen collaboration between Sam Raimi and Denzel Washington, the pair are apparently good friends in real life; hence Washington’s increased interest.
If you remember the events of 2016’s Doctor Strange, you may be understandably confused. While Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecillius is the bad guy who shows up on the screen for most of the film, it’s the powerful Dormammu that the sorcerer is trying to bring to Earth.
When Dormammu finally appears at the end of the film, it’s only as a huge face, and the facial capture and voice for the villain was done by the same guy playing the titular hero: Benedict Cumberbatch.
Of the complaints long time Marvel fans had with 2016’s Doctor Strange, the fact that the being who is arguably Strange’s chief villain in the comics shows up only briefly and as a giant face was pretty high on the list.
If the mid-credits scene of last year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is anything to go by, then the potential casting of Denzel Washington as Dormammu makes sense. The scene reveals Charlize Theron as Clea, who recruits Strange to help her stop an incursion in the Dark Dimension.
The Dark Dimension is the realm Dormammu rules, and while it isn’t mentioned in the mid-credits scene, in the source material Clea is Dormammu’s daughter.
So it makes sense Doctor Strange 3 would need an actor like Denzel Washington to give fans a more human-like version of Dormammu, particularly if he winds up getting more screen time than he does in the first film. With the power we see him wield in Doctor Strange, there’s no reason to assume he couldn’t take a more human-like form if he wanted.
Even if Denzel Washington says no, the news that Marvel plans to bring them a villain much more like the one they know from the source material will no doubt be welcome to fans.
This should come as good news to any Marvel fans who were disappointed in the first film. Of the complaints long time Marvel fans had with 2016’s Doctor Strange, the fact that the being who is arguably Strange’s chief villain in the comics shows up only briefly and as a giant face was pretty high on the list.
Even if Denzel Washington says no, the news that Marvel plans to bring them a villain much more like the one they know from the source material will no doubt be welcome to fans.
Once we know more about the potential casting — including, of course, whether or not Denzel Washington gives it his stamp of approval — we’ll make sure you know.
