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Doctor Strange wowed us with its ambitious second trailer that premiered at San Diego Comic Con this weekend. In fact we were so mesmerised by the reality-bending Cumberbatchiness of it to notice a big casting announcement in the accompanying poster.
While it's not unusual for studios to hold off on revealing every single cast member until the last second, it's definitely odd that we've learned Benjamin Bratt is in the movie via the credit block. Here's the poster as a refresher:
It's hard to spot, but trust me, his name is right there wedged between Michael Stuhlbarg and Scott Adkins. What does that tell us about his role? That tiny chunk of small print at the bottom of most one-sheet posters is normally reserved for the major players in a movie. But if Bratt has landed a significant part, that's strange - ahem - for a number of reasons.
First things first, the order in which actors appear in the credit block doesn't always determine the size of the role. Tilda Swinton's at the end and we know she's got a pretty big part as The Ancient One. Second, he's not listed in official marketing materials before now nor any of the set photos released. This is particularly intriguing. Those images are typically taken by bystanders watching major sequences from upcoming movies as they're being filmed; that's where we got a good look at Mads Mikkelsen's villain Kaecilius. But Bratt wasn't captured in any of them.
Taking all of these things into account, it looks like Bratt's probably not got a huge role in terms of screentime. Take a look at the MCU's history of this sort of thing. It's possible he could be playing someone important who only pops up briefly like Guardians of the Galaxy's Collector. Or it could be someone unimportant who only pops up briefly, like Kate Mara in Iron Man 2 who everyone swore was playing Stark's girlfriend Bethany Cabe. What do you think?
Directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt and Mads Mikkelsen, Doctor Strange is released in UK cinemas on October 28, 2016 before opening in US theatres on November 4, 2016.
Images: Marvel
