Because Marvel Studios has apparently never heard of that thing we call a “holiday break,” they have now released the first official images of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, a.k.a. The Sorcerer Supreme. As predicted by just about everybody, he looks just about perfect. It’s like they went back in time and designed the original comic book character around what Benedict Cumberbatch would eventually look like, then added a goatee and a few grey hairs just so Cumberbatch would eventually have to change his appearance just enough to make it look like he did something.
The images come from the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, previewed on their website, and are part-and-parcel with the promise that the magazine will soon reveal who Cumberbatch’s co-stars Mads Mikkelsen and Rachel McAdams will play in director Scott Derrickson’s upcoming comic book adaptation, about a surgeon who loses his ability to heal, but gains magical abilities instead.
Benedict Cumberbatch also revealed that this photo shoot gave him an opportunity to work on his fingering, since making various gestures to cast spells is an important visual aspect of Doctor Strange:
“I’m still in the infancy of learning all that,“ says Cumberbatch. “It was like, okay, I’ve got to keep throwing these poses, these spells, these rune-casting things, everything he does physically. I’m thinking, there’s going to be a huge amount of speculation and intrigue over the positioning of that finger as opposed to it being there, or there. And I’m still working on that. We haven’t played any of those scenes yet. I felt really self-conscious. But, then, by the end, it was great. It’s like anything, you just have to experiment.”
For more images of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, including new concept art from the upcoming movie, head on over to EW. Doctor Strange will cast its spell on moviegoers on November 4, 2016.
Photos: MICHAEL MULLER/ © 2015 MVLFFLLC. TM & © 2015 Marvel
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
