Benedict Wong Updates: Benedict Wong has shared a really funny story related to Doctor Strange‘s casting. Now, as MCU is prepared to expand its collections through a combination of its films and Disney+ series, Doctor Strange 2, starring Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief can be one of the first examples for this. Their stories will be resumed from the part they have left in their respective series, WandaVision, and Loki.
In an interview with Variety, Wong shares how he got originally cast in Doctor Strange. He has been recently through the promotion of Nine Days, a deeply moving drama where he stars in and therefore was asked about his role in MCU.
He was asked about the role played by his Doctor Strange co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor in the movie. The story goes like this:
What Benedict Wong has to say about Casting?
They were working on The Martian together and while having lunch, Chiwetel once told that he is going to do Doctor Strange. He was astonished to see an article headline popped up on the internet where it showed “Strange with Wong” and jokingly mentioned a petition “Wong for Wong”.
He says, “One day, I got this mysterious email asking me to audition. I got the part when I was on the set of Marco Polo; I was dressed as Kublai Khan and sitting on a throne, not being able to tell anyone. I texted Chiwetel and said, “I think I’m going to have to borrow your lawyer.” He texts back, “Wong for Wong?” And I replied, “Wong is Wong.”
He highlights the point that he and the character he plays in the MCU have the same name. This character is loosely based on his Marvel comics, but in 2016’s Doctor Strange, Wong was changed to a mentor for the titular sorcerer rather than his servant. For Doctor Strange 2, fans would surely like to see any other actor playing Wong better than Wong.
