Back in January, Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) was cast for a mysterious role in Scott Derrickson‘s Doctor Strange, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character. At the time he was rumored to play the Ancient One, a character who would help Steven Strange become the Sorcerer Supreme. However, the role was filled by Tilda Swinton a couple of weeks back.

With that role gone, there are new reports saying that Ejiofor will be playing Baron Mordo, a popular and recurring villain in the Doctor Strange comics. More on this story below.

Deadline was the first to report on the news. However, it does contradict the report when Ejiofor first joined the cast back in January. At that time, it was said that the actor was unlikely to play the villain, and would be up for either the Ancient One or Wong, Doctor Strange’s assistant. Now, Marvel has been known to mix ethnicities for some of their characters in previous films, but if the report is true, it does look like the studio will go the more traditional route when casting for Wong, assuming he is even in the film.

The site says that even though Baron Mordo is a villain in the comics, he won’t be a completely villainous character in the film. Instead, he will be an amalgamation of characters from the Doctor Strange mythology. The character was first introduced in 1963, as a Transylvanian nobleman. He trained under the tutelage of the Ancient One, and plotted to kill him. However, Strange, who had visit the Ancient One at the time, discovered Mordo’s treachery, and foiled his plans.

Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) wrote the script, though plot details are being kept a secret. Rumor has it, Doctor Strange won’t have the traditional origins story that we’ve seen in past Marvel films. Instead, the film will introduce the character as an already established part of the MCU – which was hinted at during Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

For those unfamiliar with the character, Doctor Steven Strange was a brilliant but cocky neurosurgeon, who only cared about wealth and his career. However, he was involved in a car accident that shattered the bones in his hands, effectively ruining his career as a surgeon. With no medical cures available, Strange then began looking to other means to restore full use of his hands, which led him to the Ancient One and magic.

The film is scheduled to begin in November 2015 at Pinewood-Shepperton studios in the UK.

Doctor Strange will hit theaters on November 6, 2016.

[Source: Deadline]