Speaking of Jeffrey Combs, I think he’d be a good Strange himself and unlike Denisof and Norton, my other favorites, he would be in the right age range at 52.
Peter Weller? If his hair was done up right, I think he could do it.
Alec Baldwin, if he could be convinced to take the role seriously.
We have a winner! Would even look good with the 'stache.
Sure he comes off a little sinister sometimes, but IIRC, Strange sometimes makes mistakes and goes against good guys like Ghost Rider or withholds info/assistance for reasons known only to him. Because of that, it seems even more fitting.
Good question, and (as a Strange fan) I’ve thought about starting this thread myself.
As a child in the '70s, I always saw Sean Connery in the role, which is obviously not going to work nowadays.
I love Johnny Depp, and while I don’t think he looks the part, if anyone ill-suited to the role could pull it off, I’m betting it would be him.
Timothy Dalton is an interesting choice, but I haven’t seen anything from him but the Bond film that he did (wow, a second Bond actor…trend?).
Jeffrey Combs would be interesting, though. I haven’t seen him in a while, but he kicked ass in the Reanimator movies.
I don’t wish to subvert astro’s OP, but two differences of opinion: I’ve only seen David Hyde Pierce as Frazier’s brother, and that show annoyed me to no end (even in the short bursts that I witnessed it), so a NO from me on that.
But also:
Might we expand this thread into casting a Doctor Strange movie in general, instead of just the lead role? I would have picked Jessica Alba as Clea, but since the F4 has ruined this concept, perhaps Scarlett Johansson?
I’ve always thought that good CGI was necessary to make a DS film, especially when there are excursions to the Dark Dimension of the Dread Dormamu! Roger Dean sould be a consulting artist on this.
The Time Has Come! Ia, Ia, Shub Niggurath!
(wait…maybe that’s someone else…)
If Jon Stewart grew a 'stache, he’d have the look. But is the world ready for a funny, topical, politically astute Dr. Strange? I think not.
I agree Johnny Depp doesn’t really look the part, but I trust him to become the character.
If someone makes a Dr. Strange movie, I want to see someone become Dr. Strange. I don’t want to see Dr. Strange become such-and-such actor. I like the X-Men movies, but I feel like Storm became Halle Berry, I don’t feel like Halle Berry became Storm. If someone like Tom Cruise decided to do Dr. Strange, I feel like Dr. Strange would become Tom Cruise. Just about every character Will Smith does, becomes Will Smith. It’s difficult for Harrison Ford to be anybody but Harrison Ford.
Michael Chiklis did a pretty good job of respecting the character of Ben Grimm, though.
Johnny Depp I think would respect the character, and try to become him.
I can’t think of many leading man actors I trust to truly respect the character. Dr. Strange isn’t just an action hero, he’s kind of a quirky action hero and we’d need a quirky actor to pull it off. I wouldn’t want a generic “stud” like Tom Cruise or Ben Affleck or Russell Crowe or Will Smith.
Good point. I’ve never heard that perspective articulated before (actor becoming the character vs. character becoming the actor), but now that I have, I agree with you.
Cruise, Affleck, Crowe, Smith: VERY off the list.
Depp would be interesting, to say the least. I, too, would trust him to become the character, looks or not.
That said, a well-done Doctor Strange movie would be awesome. I’m not sure who to pick for the role, but if anybody makes this movie, I hope they do it right.
Michael Jackson would be a very appropriate choice to play Dr. Strange! 
ALAS!
The best possible actor to play Stephen Strange has left this Mortal Plane.
applauds
For a Doctor Strange movie to work, I think it depends a lot more on the director than the lead actor.
I submit to the group:
And Neil Gaiman should be tapped as screenwriter… 