Marvel Studios has tapped a different actor to play the role of Doctor Strange for the initial photography of "Avengers: Infinity War."
Actor Aaron Lazar is set to be the stand-in for Benedict Cumberbatch during for an unspecified amount of time. The hold-up is due to a scheduling conflict caused by Cumberbatch's work on "The Current War," whose filming schedule overlaps with that of "Infinity War," Page Six reported.
Lazar is an American stage, film and television actor who is also known as a Broadway actor.
Once Cumberbatch is free of prior commitments, the actor will then reshoot all scenes that Lazar was in where his face will be visible. The report says that Marvel never planned to use CGI to replace Lazar's face with Cumberbatch's.
This development could possibly prolong the production of the film. However, directors Joe and Anthony Russo are insisting to do it this way because other cast members of the film will not be available once Cumberbatch arrives.
The conflict is hardly surprising given the star power of Marvel's casts. Speaking of this point, Strange's role in "Infinity War" may be categorically minor considering the film is largely about the "Avengers" and because of the large ensemble, We Got This Covered reported. However, Cumberbatch will still be very busy within the MCU as he sets to make his second appearance in "Thor: Ragnarok" where he will help Thor find Odin on Earth.
Do note that this has not been confirmed. Given the cosmic threat that the heroes will face when they battle Thanos, Doctor Strange's skill set might be the big boost they need to save the universe.
"Thor Ragnarok" opens on Nov. 3, 2017 while "Avengers: Infinity War" is slated for release on May 4, 2018.
Watch Dr. Stephen Strange's conversation with Thor in the clip below:
