Marvel Studios‘ talks with Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix to play Doctor Strange are kaput. He never had a deal, but Marvel is already getting into it with other actors to play that superhero in a free standing film. Don’t believe these talks that Boyhood‘s Ethan Hawke has made a deal to play the character; I’m told reliably that that is speculation run wild. I understand Marvel’s belief that Phoenix would have been great for that role, in keeping with putting solid actors in those hero roles. But Phoenix, whose latest, the Paul Thomas Anderson-directed Inherent Vice, opens this weekend at The New York Film Festival. I’m not sure Phoenix is a Comic-Con kind of guy. Before Marvel started talking with Phoenix, the major names in the mix included The Drop‘s Tom Hardy, The Imitation Game’s Benedict Cumberbatch and Dallas Buyers Club‘s Jared Leto, among others. Let the speculation begin anew. After teasing references to the Doctor, most recently he got a shout out in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel has made this a priority.

With Joaquin Phoenix out of the running for Doctor Strange Marvel has had to go back to the drawing board to figure out who will headline their next big franchise. They have their director, they're getting their script together, they just need their star. So who is it gonna be?

Yesterday a new source contacted me and said that Ewan McGregor had been prepping for the role - doing the usual research actors do when looking at taking on an adaptation or existing character. I contacted one of my usual sources and asked if this was true, and I was told "They're looking at him."