If you’re a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch’s more prestigious film work, this fall has you covered with “The Power of the Dog” and “The Electric Life of Louis Wain.” However, if you’re someone that prefers seeing Cumberbatch wear a huge cape and cast spells in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s a lot to be excited about as 2021 comes to an end. And while the actor is garnering some serious Oscar buzz for the first two films mentioned, he explained in a new interview with THR how he is still happy to appear as Doctor Strange in the biggest superhero franchise ever created.
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Talking about his experience as Doctor Strange in various Marvel Studios features, Cumberbatch said he feels “fortunate that I’m part of a franchise that keeps wanting more of this character I play…and I really enjoy playing that character.”
For fans of Doctor Strange, there’s a lot of him coming, as the actor is set to appear in the upcoming “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” arriving in December, before starring in his own “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which is hitting theaters next March. And though there’s a lot of excitement about both of those films, the latter was hit with a bit of a speed bump when it was announced early in development that “Doctor Strange” director Scott Derrickson had left the sequel and would be replaced by Sam Raimi. While Cumberbatch respects the studio’s decision, he was still sad to learn the news about the change in filmmakers.
“I was sad to hear about it, but that was not my decision,” Cumberbatch explained. “I completely respected the studio’s decision, and it was done very amicably. The grown-ups called and just talked me through it. And that was that.”
Of course, even though it’s sad that Derrickson left the project, Sam Raimi is a hell of a replacement, given the filmmaker’s legendary work in the horror genre. And for Cumberbatch, he enjoyed working with the filmmaker on the new feature.
“He was an assured pair of hands, who knew that world,” the actor said of Raimi. “He’s got certain Raimi traits. The smashed-zoom close-up. The mixture of just on the level of horror and just on the level of camp. There’s fun in there, but there should be some real thrills as well.”
Cumberbatch added, “With the first film, you’re always locked into a script because it’s the origin story/ But there was a lot more freedom this time around. I guess, because we were … not literally making it up as we go along, but sometimes it feels like that. Marvel has this amazing ability to come into production: ‘We really just have to start shooting now. It doesn’t matter that the third act is not quite where you want it to be.’ You really do things on a wing and a prayer sometimes.”
With more than two dozen films under its belt, Marvel Studios has earned the trust of audiences and no one is concerned about a film that is still figuring out its script while in production. That seems pretty much par for the course with the superhero studio. We’ll get to see how this all turns out when “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” arrives on March 25, 2022.