Ryan Gosling Flirts With Franchises: Actor in Mix for 'Doctor Strange,' 'Houdini' and 'Suicide Squad'

Is Ryan Gosling ready to do what every other actor in Hollywood is doing and claim a franchise role for himself? According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gosling has met with Marvel Studios for Doctor Strange and is flirting with offers for Summit's The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero and Warner Bros.' Suicide Squad.

Gosling becomes another name on a growing list of actors who could lead Marvel's Doctor Strange. An earlier report on Wednesday listed Jared Leto, Oscar Isaac, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Jake Gyllenhaal and Ethan Hawke as contenders for Doctor Strange. In addition to Gosling, THR also tosses Justin Theroux and Keanu Reeves into the mix.

Johnny Depp had been in talks to star in The Secret Life of Houdini, but the actor had to abandon the project for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Warner Bros. made director David Ayer' Suicide Squad official on Wednesday, slotting the movie for an August 2016 release date following Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

People like to say that Gosling has shied away from franchise roles over his career, but that ignores the fact that Gosling was in the running for Warner Bros.' first Green Lantern movie. The role went to Ryan Reynolds, but Gosling, Leto and Justin Timberlake were finalists for the part. Since then, Gosling has stuck to indie movies and films that had little sequel potential.

Of the three parts Gosling is supposedly courting, The Secret Life of Houdini seems to be the best fit for him. I could see Gosling bristling at the idea of signing on for multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, and I'm not very familiar with Suicide Squad. Gosling playing Harry Houdini would be very similar to what Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman did with The Prestige.

There's always a good chance that Gosling passes on all of these roles, but this news does hint that the actor might be ready to jump on the franchise train.