More 'Doctor Strange' Candidates: Joaquin Phoenix, Colin Farrell and Benedict Cumberbatch

The Doctor Strange casting rumor mill continues to churn. Over the course of the past week, we've heard that Ewan McGregor, Jared Leto, Oscar Isaac, Matthew McConaughey, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke and Ryan Gosling were all in the mix to lead the next big franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Joaquin Phoenix passing on the role forced Marvel Studios to embark on this round of casting.

Funny story about Phoenix — according to TheWrap, he's back in the running for Doctor Strange. "While Phoenix was thought to have recently passed on the role of Stephen Strange following an extended courtship from Marvel," TheWrap writes, "he has apparently had second thoughts and is not entirely out of the picture just yet."

It sounds like Marvel's negotiations with Robert Downey Jr. for Captain America 3 may have turned Phoenix off. Was the studio not paying enough attention to Phoenix? At this point, I'm over the idea of Phoenix playing Doctor Strange. Hearing that people like McGregor and Leto were possibly in the running for the role has me much more excited for the movie than Phoenix would.

TheWrap also added two new names to the Doctor Strange mix: Colin Farrell and Benedict Cumberbatch. (Well, Cumberbatch's name has been tossed around before, but this is the first time this week.) The site notes that Farrell has True Detective coming up on his schedule, but that would wrap up just in time to begin shooting Doctor Strange. Cumberbatch's schedule with Sherlock, however, could keep him from making the role a reality.

Doctor Strange is slotted to open on July 8, 2016. Marvel and director Scott Derrickson are going to have to pick someone soon.