One of the earliest names attached to star in Marvel's upcoming Doctor Strange movie was none other than Star Trek Into Darkness villain Benedict Cumberbatch. But then that was just chalked up to rumors or possible confusion (he was also heavily linked to Star Wars, another Disney deal that didn't pan out) as Joaquin Phoenix emerged as the front-runner to play the Sorcerer Supreme.

Phoenix's deal didn't pan out, though, and now all of the Hollywood trades are reporting that Cumberbatch is not only back in the mix, but in final negotiations to play Doctor Strange in an unknown number of Marvel movies.

The first of those movies is the solo Doctor Strange directed by Scott Derrickson that's currently pegged to hit theaters on July 8, 2016. After that, it's possible for Cumberbatch to make appearances all over the Marvel cinematic universe, and possibly its TV universe as well, thanks to everything from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 to the Netflix Daredevil show (who knows? It could happen).

For some other Cumberbatch rumors, here's the actor appearing on The Graham Norton Show where he talks about both Star Trek and Star Wars.