Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is now reportedly in contention to play the starring role in Marvel’s new film Doctor Strange.

Earlier this week there was a rumor that Academy Award-winning actor Jared Leto was set to play the role of Doctor Strange, but fans of the source material weren’t exactly onboard due to the drastically different physical appearance between Leto and Strange. Despite Leto being highly talented, we also held some of those same reservations.

Benedict Cumberbatch is now in contention for the role of Doctor Strange and this is an actor we can get behind. Doctor Strange is a neurosurgeon who serves as the Sorcerer Supreme protecting Earth against any threats via his incredibly magical powers and martial arts.

Cumberbatch just feels like he could easily pull off a supreme being of sorts, with neurosurgeon intelligence and magical abilities. He did an incredible job as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness and blew everyone away with just his voice in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug as the film’s magical, winged beast.

While it’s currently just a report from Deadline, Cumberbatch seems like the perfect fit for the role and we wouldn’t be surprised to find out that these reports are right on the money. Benedict Cumberbatch is a perfect fit to join Marvel’s cinematic universe and Doctor Strange could use an actor of his caliber to help bring the character to life.

While we’ve known about the Doctor Strange adaptation for some time, we’re just starting to get reports of who may join the film’s cast after Sinister director Scott Derrickson revealed on twitter this week that his next movie will be “STRANGE.” Marvel then confirmed that he would be directing their Doctor Strange adaptation.

There are also some smaller rumors that Tom Hardy is being eyed for the starring role, but Cumberbatch definitely seems like the better fit. While Hardy is an incredible actor, Cumberbatch has the height and intellectual prowess to pull off Doctor Strange.

Writers Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer are currently penning the script for Doctor Strange and we imagine Cumberbatch is very high on the list to play the film’s key role.

Let us know what you think of the excellent Benedict Cumberbatch potentially playing Doctor Strange in Marvel’s film adaptation which is set to hit theaters in 2016.