Jessica Chastain Turned Down Major Doctor Strange Role (But For a Good Reason)

Before playing the role of Vux in the Dark Phoenix, Jessica Chastain also had the opportunity to star in the 2016 film Doctor Strange in a major role. As it turns out, the actress turned it down for a pretty cool reason.

In a recent interview Junkfood Cinema, Doctor Strange screenwriter C. Robert Cargill revealed that the Christine Palmer role was initially offered to Chastain. "This is the interesting thing that Hollywood's starting to find out, is that a lot of the actresses out there want to be superheroes as much as the actors do," Cargill said. "I know this happened with Scott [Derrickson]. He went to Jessica Chastain to get her on Doctor Strange because we were considering her."

Although the actress seems delighted to be a part of the MCU, she actually wanted to play a caped superhero instead. "She's like, ‘Hey, look, this project sounds awesome, and I would love to do it,'" Cargill explained. However, the actress told them that she only gets "one-shot" in being in a Marvel film and since she trained in ballet, she admitted that she wanted to "wear a cape."

Cargill thought it was the coolest rejection ever, saying that Chastain "wanted to be in a Marvel movie, but she wanted to be the superhero, not the badass doctor Night Nurse."

The role eventually went to Rachel McAdams and though her character was pretty prominent in the film, it didn't include the transition of becoming the Night Nurse.

As for the Doctor Strange sequel, the film is reportedly still on track to start filming this June. Insiders claim the studio is remotely working on pre-production amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently scheduled to hit theaters on May 7, 2021.

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