Depp, Gaiman’s ideal ‘Dr. Strange’

'Marvel approached me and asked if I would be interested in Dr. Strange,’ author Neil Gaiman says. 'Then, when I mentioned this to Guillermo Del Toro, he said, ‘Oh my God Neil, we must do Dr. Strange together.’”

If it’s on IMDB, then it must be true. Unless, of course, the person you’re asking tells you something different.

So, are Neil Gaiman and Guillermo del Toro planning to join forces for a live-action “Dr. Strange” feature?

“Marvel approached me and asked if I would be interested in ‘Dr. Strange,’” Gaiman says. “Then, when I mentioned this to Guillermo Del Toro, he said, ‘Oh my God Neil, we must do ‘Dr. Strange’ together.’”

But with del Toro inked to “The Hobbit,” Gaiman is not sure if and when it will happen. “And after having the idea of ‘Dr. Strange’ with Guillermo Del Toro dangled in front of me,” he says, “I’m not sure I could see myself doing it with anyone else.”

If the film does get made, does he have a leading man in mind?

“The actors I see in the part – one of them already has his Marvel role – Robert Downey Jr. He would have been one of my leading ‘Dr. Strange’ contenders. But Johnny Depp is another leading candidate.

“I have a specific type of leading man,” he continues, “one who is not too skinny.”

In the midst of tracking the final touches director Henry Selick (“The Nightmare Before Christmas”) is putting on a stop-motion adaptation of his spooky classic, “Coraline,” Gaiman has had an uneasy relationship with Hollywood after a 10-year run on “The Sandman” made him a much-sought after screenwriter.

“I’ve never been able to view commercial success as being a particularly important facet of filmmaking,” he says. “I remember 20 years ago I had a meeting in Hollywood and they asked, ‘What do you see this as looking like?’ And I said, ‘I think it should look like so-and-so.’

“They looked at me in horror and said, ‘What? That made no money.’

“‘Stardust’ (which was made into a film with Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer in 2007) is regarded as a failure because it made $39-million in America. But it went on to make $150-million internationally, so it’s an international hit.

“You wind up absolutely doing your head in if you think about that kind of stuff. So all I hope for ‘Coraline’ is that Henry is happy with his film.”

Months away from seeing the screen incarnation of one of comics’ most iconic titles – “Watchmen” – hit multiplexes; Gaiman isn’t keen to see any of his super-hero creations in a darkened theatre, save one.

“’1602,’” he says referring to his 2004 Marvel graphic novel that transplants Spider-Man, the X-Men, Daredevil, Nick Fury and others to Elizabethan-era England, “if done properly, would be an absolutely kick-ass, beautiful burger on a Friday night.”

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