Doctor Strange: Chiwetel Ejiofor set to become Benedict Cumberbatch's arch enemy

The actor looks set to take the role of Baron Mordo

Chiwetel Ejiofor poses with the award for a leading actor for his work on the film '12 Years a Slave' (CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images)

Doctor Strange could be Marvel’s most British film yet with Chiwetel Ejiofor looking set to join Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton in the film’s cast.

The Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave actor is set to take on the role of Baron Mordo, an enemy of Doctor Strange, according to Deadline.

However, Ejiofor’s Mordo will reportedly be a toned down version of a villain, who will be more of an amalgamation of characters from the Doctor Strange comics rather than an arch rival to Cumberbatch’s neurosurgeon.

The change of characterisation in the movie follows news that Swinton is in line to play The Ancient One, a Tibetan male sorcerer in the comics.

Ejiofor and Swinton’s casting marks a concerted move by Marvel to broaden diversity on the silver screen. Marvel Comics introduced a female Thor and black Captain American last year in a bid to improve representation of diversity in its major titles.

Directed by Scott Derrickson, the Doctor Strange film follows the story of the brilliant but arrogant neurosurgeon who learns after a car accident that his hands don’t hold the key to his powers. The Ancient One then takes him under his wing and trains him to defend the world against evil.

The film is set for release in the UK on 28 October, 2016.