The Mandalorian Season 2 pretty much gave fans a guarantee that the iconic Star Wars villain Grand Admiral Thrawn will be making his live-action debut real soon and after that brief tease during the Ahsoka Tano-centric episode "The Jedi", fans of the franchise can't help but be excited about the future of the Mandoverse now that Thrawn could soon be joining the fold.
Naturally, this led to a lot of fans coming up with their own casting candidates for the role, and surprisingly enough, Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch leads the betting odds and is actually a strong contender to play the character. When you think about it, with Cumberbatch's experience in the superhero and sci-fi genre, having starred in the MCU and Star Trek projects, it pretty much gives him the edge but apparently, Benedict has no interest in taking on the role.
As it turns out, he's not even familiar with the Star Wars Rebels villain. When asked by Collider about the casting rumors and the growing fan interest regarding him portraying the live-action version of Thrawn, Cumberbatch simply said that he doesn't know who the character is. "Grand Admiral Thrawn? Does he turn into [Grand Moff Tarkin actor] Peter Cushing or something?"
When he finally learned who the villain is and that playing him in live-action would require him to get that blue skin, Benedict instantaneously shut down the casting, saying: "That's a straight 'no' from me, right now. There's no way I want to be turned blue. I turned the air blue, very recently. No no, seriously, I have precious time with my children and I think sitting in a makeup chair and being painted blue, and the amount of time it would take to do that and then take it off at the end of the day might just … it's not the right time in my life for that."
Meanwhile, Cumberbatch's MCU colleague Robert Downey Jr. is also being rumored for the role and according to previous scoops, The Mandalorian's Jon Favreau is actually eyeing the Iron Man actor to appear in the Mandoverse but as it stands, the casting reports have yet to get a promising update. It'll be interesting to see which actor Lucasfilm ends upcasting and I have a feeling we won't have to wait that long for the announcement considering Season 3 of The Mandalorian begins production soon.
The Mandalorian Season 3 begins filming next month.
Also Read: Lucasfilm Reportedly Working on Secret Spin-off Series Featuring [SPOILERS]
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