Actor Edgar Ramirez had nothing but praise for Deliver Us From Evil writer/director Scott Derrickson, telling SPINOFF ONLINE he's been "a huge fan" of the filmmaker's work since The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It's little surprise then that the duo is looking beyond the horror film, which opens July 2, to Derrickson's next project: Marvel's Doctor Strange.

"We're talking," Ramirez revealed to IGN.com. "We've been talking."

Granted, "talking" isn't the same as "in talks"; discussions may never progress beyond that. However, considering that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced just last week that he expects to begin casting " probably in the next month or two," the timing is certainly right for tentative initial conversations.

"Doctor Strange's" Scott Derrickson Puts Characters First in "Deliver Us From Evil"

"Strange is very, very important, not just because it's an amazing character study, and a journey of a man who's gone from this very arrogant surgeon to somebody who is quite zen and literally keeps all of reality together on a daily basis," Feige told the crowd at CineEurope in Barcelona, "but it also is going to open up a whole other side of storytelling for our movies."

Ramirez, who earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of Carlos the Jackal in the 2010 film Carlos, also appeared in Wrath of the Titans, Zero Dark Thirty and The Counselor. He was tapped just last month to replace Gerard Butler in the Point Break remake.

Marvel last week hired original Prometheus screenwriter Jon Spaihts to pen a new draft of Doctor Strange. Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jared Leto reportedly the frontrunners for the title role, which would make Ramirez who? Baron Mordo, maybe?

Production is set to begin next spring.