english actor Benedict Cumberbatch could star alongside another Marvel alumnus in an upcoming Netflix Roald Dahl project, which would be the basis of a new franchise for the streaming giant.

According to a report from The Sun, Benedict Cumberbatch will trade Doctor Strange’s magic for Dahl’s children’s magic books. Netflix has announced that it has secured the rights to adapt Roald Dahl’s many beloved children’s literature classics in September 2021 as part of a deal with Roald Dahl Story Company.

Cumberbatch to star in adaptation of Dahl’s short story collection The wonderful story of Henry Sugar and six others, alongside Oscar-winning actor Ben Kingsley according to this report. The wonderful story of Henry Sugar and Six Following features seven stories as you would expect from the title, two of which are said to be based on Roald Dahl’s experiences during WWII as a fighter pilot.

Cumberbatch has appeared in several war films, most recently in the setting of the Cold War The mail, a brief appearance in 1917, and his Oscar-winning performance as Alan Turing in The imitation game in 2014.

Fresh out of Oscar favorite The power of the dog and the latest Marvel movie Spider-Man: No Path Home, Cumberbatch is a huge draw and an impressive first win for Netflix if the report is true. Meanwhile, Kingsley and Cumberbatch would play alongside James bond franchise actor Ralph Fiennes, who is also said to be involved in a contract with Netflix.

According to a Netflix press release in September 2021, when they acquired Roald Dahl Story Company, they “have an extraordinary opportunity to write several new chapters of these beloved stories for children and adults around the world for them. generations to come “.

There is no confirmed release date for any of the Netflix projects, but in the aforementioned press release they confirmed a few projects they were working on, including a Willy wonka adaptation and a Mathilde: the musical project with Sony. It is however not the only Willy wonka project in production, with a prequel with Timothée Chalamet entitled Wonka currently in pre-production with Warner Bros. for release in 2023.

And whether or not a Cumberbatch Dahl project comes to fruition, we’ll always have read it James and the giant peach alongside Meryl Streep and Taika Waititi.

We Got This Covered has contacted Netflix regarding casting news and will be updated if we have a response.