Benedict Cumberbatch has entered the world of the mystic arts.
The actor will star in Marvel’s “Doctor Strange,” scheduled to hit theaters November 4, 2016. The film, directed by Scott Derrickson with Jon Spaihts writing the screenplay, will follow the story of neurosurgeon Doctor Stephen Strange who, after a horrific car accident, discovers the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions.
“Stephen Strange’s story requires an actor capable of great depth and sincerity,” said Producer Kevin Feige. “In 2016, Benedict will show audiences what makes Doctor Strange such a unique and compelling character.”
Cumberbatch rose to international prominence with his critically acclaimed turn as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation in “Sherlock,” currently preparing its fourth season. The series’ most recent season earned Cumberbatch the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie in 2014, after winning the BAFTA/LA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year in 2013.
Cumberbatch most recently starred in “The Imitation Game,” playing famed mathematician and logician Alan Turing, and will soon be seen in “The Hobbit: The Army of the Five Armies” as Smaug and the Necromancer. For the role of Smaug, Cumberbatch stepped into the world of motion capture to bring the dragon to life. He will next be seen in Scott Cooper’s film “Black Mass,” the story of Whitey Bulger coming to theaters next September, where he stars opposite Johnny Depp and Joel Edgerton.
The star’s other credits include the Academy Award-winning “12 Years a Slave,” “War Horse,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “August: Osage County,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “The Fifth Estate,” and “Parade’s End.” Benedict will be returning to the stage this summer in Hamlet at the Barbican with Lyndsey Turner directing. His last stage performance in Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein opposite Jonny Lee Miller awarded him the Olivier.
With “Doctor Strange,” Cumberbatch is just the latest actor to join the bold Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, introducing new heroes and continuing the adventures of fan favorites across multiple films.
Source:
OFFICIAL: Benedict Cumberbatch to play #DoctorStrange, in theaters November 4, 2016: http://t.co/p2QIRIWixn
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) December 4, 2014OFFICIAL: Benedict Cumberbatch to play #DoctorStrange, in theaters November 4, 2016: http://t.co/fQlg5UiUp0 pic.twitter.com/yKnrHmVDKF
— Doctor Strange (@DrStrange) December 4, 2014
Amazing news! He will be great!
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm so glad! I can't wait to see this!
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with Strange is he villain, hero, anti-hero?
ReplyDeleteHero. He's a sorcerer who draws his power from various entities. He's marvels main/big mystical superhero (not counting Thor). He protects earth from Supernatural entities that the regular hero's cannot fight or defeat.
ReplyDeleteI need Doctor Strange v Loki in my life right about now.
ReplyDeleteBenedict v Tom, make it happen Marvel! Divide the fangirls and break twitter/tumblr.
Benedict Cumberbatch Officially Cast.
ReplyDeleteMe Officially Not Seeing This Film.
The latest DC/Marvel castings are really putting me off.
And Marvel continues to run circles around FOX and DC in the casting department.
ReplyDeleteHe's sort of neutral huh? Interesting. Thanks for the info :)
ReplyDeleteEw.
ReplyDeleteTell that to the Joker casting.
ReplyDeleteAwesome.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're talking about Ledger and not Jared Leto.
ReplyDeleteThe dude's fantastic and a chameleon of acting.
ReplyDeleteScrew it. We're not going to agree. So impasse agree to disagree.
ReplyDeleteHe's awesome at everything he does so I am looking forward to this! Hopefully this doesn't delay Sherlock Series 4:)
ReplyDeleteMeh... I'm sure he'll do a great job but I'm not that impressed with the choice...
ReplyDeleteIs the doctor British ? Im really not that familiar with doctor strange comics
ReplyDeleteI love Benedict but I'm scared I might see glimpses of Sherlock hopefully Benedict can pull it off
I wonder if they will bring in Dormammu lol
ReplyDeleteHe was terrible as Kahn, I don't trust him with any other part but Sherlock. I know that fangirls are in awe but I'd remain cautios
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what to think...Cumberbatch isn't one of these actors I trust to be more than limited to one role. He was bad as Kahn...almost terrible
ReplyDeletewell...it's not that bad but I agree that the guy as an actor has far from impressed me with Star Trek: Into Darkness
ReplyDeletehe's not
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to wait with Leto...Cumberbatch not so much
ReplyDeleteHell yeah!! This is gonna be great.
ReplyDeleteKahn was a terrible idea to begin with. Anyone in that role would have fallen flat. To take an over-the-top hammy villain like Kahn and then sap all his personality in an attempt to make him more serious was an abject failure of conception.
ReplyDeletealright then I need to go to another product of his: Parade's End
ReplyDeleteCumberbatch has one good feature, his voice. His facial acting is practically non existant as well as his body language.
The guy is...as stiff as one would expect. For someone that can appreciate John Barrowman being incredibly hammy I thought you'd understand Cumberbatchs limitations :P
Definitely appealing to the same fan groups. :-)
ReplyDeleteBarrowman gets appreciation for being hammy in a role that's supposed to be hammy. For whatever reason, JJ Abrams thought it would be a good idea to make Kahn a straightforward bad guy. It was a dumb as rocks idea.
ReplyDeleteI get that Cumberbatch has limitations (point well made about Parade's End) but I also feel that this role will fit nicely into those limitations. Strange is supposed to be dry and stoic to an almost ridiculous degree, with the exception of the spells and incantations which will require Cumberbatch to flip his Barrowman switch.
But that's the thing, can Cumberbatch even go full...or half ham on us?
ReplyDeleteThe reason Iron Man got so popular is because RDJ didn't portray Tony Stark, he portrayed someone else entirely. His cocky behaviour was actually not planned or ever part of the comic universe. And it worked out well and rebranded a hero.
Dr. Strange is a hero that needs to be touched with silver gloves simply because it's tricky to pull.
Thor only worked as a movie because of Kenneth Brannaghs direction, otherwise the movie would probably have been one of the worst MCU flicks.
It's not easy to introduce a new element (magic) to an already existing universe and explaining it, that's why the flick needs so many ridiculously GOOD aspects for the audience to be willing to suspend their disbelief.
But I do accept the fact that he has a fan army behind him that is probably going to storm theatres
I think I may be in the minority that believes the Thor franchise has been solidly subpar. The character has been written reasonably well (both in and out of his own movies) but the films have been mediocre.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Cumberbatch is unproven in the ham department but I'm willing to cut Marvel Studios a lot more slack with casting than FOX & DC simply because they've earned it. Marvel Studios have made 3 or 4 iffy casting decisions that I initially didn't like but changed my mind once I saw the results.
you're not, I think most people were underwhelmed with the franchise.
ReplyDeleteIt's a solid one but I never got why people were extatic about Dark World. The first one had some sort of a charme but the second one didn't grab me that much.
This is actually the first time I'm iffy about a Marvel character. Simply because I've seen Cumberbatch and am one of the few people that stand firm with the opinion that he's far from a good actor without having been killed by his fanbase (yet).
I didn't know Hemsworth when he was cast and was ready to give him a shot, pretty much every actor they cast was either a blank page for me (Hemsworth, Stan, Rufallo, Gregg, Mackie and a bunch of others) or I already knew that they were going to do fine (Evans because I'm one of the few abominations that love the F4 movies).
It was an obvious fanbase based decision from Marvel and I don't blame them.
But still...
I think the Thor franchise shows why direction is important. Thor was charming in Avengers and they addressed the silly rainbow fantasy tone in a bearable way. On his own, the movies have only been so-so, taken themselves too seriously, and come across as overly fantastical/cheesy (and IMO the relationship with Natalie Portman hasn't been successful). People come back for Hemsworth not because they are good.
ReplyDeleteToo true.
ReplyDeleteGood post. Your RDJ point in particular, requires expansion.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why RDJ was such an unexpected success in the role. Too many "fans" fail to realize that both Marvel and DC are not just trying to get the comic book fans interested...but the casual fans, as well.
The Cumberbatch casting works for many reasons, not the least of which is the serious Oscar buzz he's receiving for The Imitation Game.
I loved the comic book Dr. Strange (just like I loved the comic book Iron Man), but I truly don't care if it's "faithful" or not. I care if it's good.
True dat
ReplyDeleteI think if you / want/ to see glimpses of Sherlock in his performance, you will ... every actor and actress brings something to their roles that is extremely unique... and some of those things you will find in every role, at least if you know more movies and shows the actor has played in and if you specifically look out for them ...
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean to say with this: As long as his performance is not full-on Sherlock, it'll be different and unique even if there are some small Sherlock-like actions / reactions in it (at least I trust it will be)
Yes, I am a huge fan of his, because I personally think he is a very great actor (to each their own opinion, right?) ... but of course I also don't jump to any conclusions before having seen the movie.
ReplyDeleteBut. Maybe you should do the same? You keep going around posting how all of these fangirls will be quick to love the casting and the movie, just because it's Benedict ... but you seem to be doing exactly the opposite. You seem to hate the casting and Benedict's acting already, without even having seen any of it... which you can't have, yet, because filming for the movie hasn't even started yet.
You can have your own opinion on how you like or dislike Benedict's acting skills and how you liked him in past roles, but maybe try to take some of your own advice and not jump to any sort of opinion too fast ;)