Prometheus screenwriter Jon Spaihts has entered negotiations with Marvel Studios to write the screenplay for Doctor Strange. The news comes just weeks after the studio hired Scott Derrickson to direct the Marvel Phase Three adventure.

The new report from Deadline also backs up earlier rumors that Marvel has Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jared Leto on their short list of contenders to play the title character. However, we reported yesterday that Jared Leto is also in early talks to replace Will Smith in Legedary's Brilliance.

The original Doctor Strange script was written by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (Conan the Barbarian, Uncharted), although it isn't known if Jon Spaihts is starting over from scratch, or if he is rewriting the earlier draft.

Doctor Strange, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, debuted in Marvel's "Strange Tales" #110 in 1963. Steven Strange was a renowned neurosurgeon whose hands were badly damaged in a horrific car accident, sending him on a quest to become the "Master of Mystic Arts" and regain his precise skills.

Jon Spaihts has also written The Darkest Hour, along with the upcoming Passengers starring Keanu Reeves, Universal's Untitled Mummy Reboot and Disney's The Black Hole remake.