Marvel President Kevin Feige has to be careful when he appears in public. Every single time he shows up somewhere, he’s bombarded with questions about the Marvel rumor mill. The latest inquiries all center on Doctor Strange. Feige was on hand at the premiere of All Hail the King in Los Angeles, CA and was questioned about the director short list that’s been making the rounds, as well as potential casting for the film.

Feige said the central role doesn’t necessarily need to be played by a movie star, but a movie star would be good. As for the directors, he said Marvel is taking meetings, but those reported names were incorrect. Read his full quotes below.

The quotes come from IGN. First up, on the director short list, Feige said the following:

Well, that article was true, that we’re meeting a lot of people now. That article was not true about who we’re meeting or what level anybody is. But we’e actively looking….We always look at a wide range of people with a wide range of backgrounds. There’s only one criteria: do something that we think is really cool. [Laughs] That’s about it.

He was then asked if a movie star needed to play the role, probably a reference to the rumor Johnny Depp was in talks:

You know, I would say that we’re pretty transparent, right? Doctor Strange would be our — well, depending on when we make it, it could be our 13th, 14th, 15th movie, right? I think if you’re looking to track our decision-making and how we’ve done things, we have a pretty wide track record now where you can sort of see. So, no, a movie star is not required, but that does’t mean a movie star wouldn’t be great. It just depends.

Pretty judicious answers from the Prez, but there’s also that denial of Mark Andrews, Nikolaj Arcel, Dean Israelite and Jonathan Levine. (Or, at least it sounds like that. Talking about the “levels” could mean he did meet one or two of them, but they aren’t in contention.) I’d venture to bet after that Ant-Man casting, and Guardians trailer, a Strange announcement will be the next big thing from Marvel. Expect a ton of new info with Captain America: The Winter Soldier starting to screen next month.

Do you agree Strange doesn’t need to be a star?