Rachel McAdams has confirmed that she’s in early, tentative talks to appear in Doctor Strange, the planned Benedict Cumberbatch-starring exploration of the more mystical side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Talking to The Los Angeles Times, McAdams remained noncommittal—for not even the fabled All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto can pierce the vale of obfuscation and shifting allegiances that hide the intricacies of big-budget casting decisions—but admitted that talks had at least happened, saying, “It’s still super-early days, and I don’t know where that’s gonna go, if it’s gonna go anywhere at all.”
If she maybe joins the possible movie that she’s hypothetically thinking about signing on for—perhaps—McAdams will most likely play Clea, a prominent member of Doctor Strange’s supporting cast. Clea is both a love interest for the doctor-turned-Sorceror-Supreme, as well as a powerful magic user in her own right. Those protective magics will come in handy if the script features any extended romantic scenes that force her to get close to her co-star, lest she be shredded by the legendary Cuspidate Cheekbones of Cumberbatch.
McAdams currently stars on the second season of True Detective, and appears in the new Jake Gyllenhaal boxing movie Southpaw. Doctor Strange wouldn’t be her first brush with the MCU; she was originally rumored to be Jon Favreau’s first choice for the role of Pepper Potts in Iron Man, a role that went to Gwyneth Paltrow after McAdams turned it down.
Besides Cumberbatch, the official cast of Doctor Strange includes Chiwetel Ejiofor as the villainous Baron Mordo, and a possible appearance by Tilda Swinton as the wizened Ancient One. If McAdams does join the film, she’ll be continuing the trend of Doctor Strange actors not matching either the ethnicity, country of origin, or original gender of their comic book counterparts, as McAdams is from Canada, and Clea is a native of the Dark Dimension of Dread Dormammu.