Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor will play the sorcerous nobleman Baron Mordo opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Marvel Studios’ forthcoming superhero epic Doctor Strange, reports Deadline.

The 12 Years a Slave star, 37, joins an increasingly British cast. Tilda Swinton was recently reported to be in talks to play the Ancient One, a mystical Tibetan mentor to Strange whose traditional powers include astral projection, teleportation and the ability to create energy blasts.

Mordo is usually a supervillain figure in Marvel’s Doctor Strange comics, but Deadline suggests the character’s evil tendencies will be toned down for the big screen. The Disney-owned studio is also taking liberties with the Ancient One’s backstory as it transfers the silver age title to multiplexes: the sorcerer has always been male in print. Both Mordo and Strange are students of the Ancient One in the comics, and have similar powers, though Mordo is more willing to use black magic and summon demons in the pursuit of his ambitions.

Doctor Strange is due in cinemas in November 2016 and will mark Cumberbatch’s debut lead role in a big-budget Hollywood production. Originally an arrogant neurosurgeon named Dr Stephen Strange, the character is transformed into a magically powered superhero following a horrific car accident.

The Marvel universe’s sorcerer supreme is a figure expected to have a central role in the studio’s ambitious next wave of superhero movies. Nine new comic book films are expected between May 2016’s Captain America: Civil War and 2019’s The Avengers: Infinity War: Part 2.

Scott Derrickson, best known for the 2008 remake of sci-fi cult classic The Day the Earth Stood Still and 2005 horror The Exorcism of Emily Rose, will direct Doctor Strange from a screenplay by Prometheus’s Jon Spaihts.

