LOS ANGELES, Calif., Dec. 28, 2015 (UPI) — Benedict Cumberbatch recently made his debut as Doctor Strange.
The 39-year-old English actor posed as the Marvel character for the Jan. 8 cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine. The issue marks Cumberbatch’s first official appearance as the Sorcerer Supreme since the film began principal photography in November.
“I’m still in the infancy of learning,” the star said in the interview. “It was like, okay, I’ve got to keep throwing these poses, these spells, these rune-casting things, everything he does physically … 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.”
“I’m still working on that,” he said of the character’s gesticulations while spell-casting. “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.”
In the comics, Stephen Strange is a brilliant but egotistical doctor who acquires powers after a car accident ruins the use of his hands. He uses his abilities and several magical items to help defend Earth from magical and mystical threats as Sorcerer Supreme.
“For some reason people sometimes talked about how we’re not doing an origin story, we’re bored of origin stories,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told IGN in September. “Doctor Strange has one of the best, most classic, most unique origin stories of any hero we have, so why wouldn’t we do that?”
“Doctor Strange” is directed by “Sinister” helmer Scott Derrickson, and opens in theaters Nov. 4, 2016. The movie co-stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo, Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One and Rachel McAdams as Strange’s love interest.
