The Martian's Benedict Wong cast as Doctor Strange's sidekick

Marvel's highly-anticipated Doctor Strange now has twice as many Benedicts as Benedict Wong joins the movie as Cumberbatch's sidekick. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Benedict Wong - who was seen most recently in the Oscar nominated The Martian - has been cast as Doctor Strange's sidekick Wong.

In the comics he aids the Sorcerer Supreme in his battle against mystical evil with his martial arts mastery and occult knowledge. One of Wong's main tasks is also to protect Strange's body when he is astral projecting into another dimension. Think Alfred to Bruce Wayne and you're halfway there...

In addition to his scene-stealing turn in The Martian, Wong (the actor) has also been seen in blockbusters such as Prometheus and Kick-Ass 2. It's another strong addition to what is now a formidable cast, and with Wong (the character) likely to appear in multiple Marvel movies, here's hoping the two Benedicts play off each other well.

Directed by Scott Derickson and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, and Mads Mikkelsen, Doctor Strange is released in UK cinemas on October 28, 2016 and US theatres on November 4, 2016.

Images: 20th Century Fox

Amon Warmann

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.