Benedict Cumberbatch has been discussing his early impressions of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with The Wall Street Journal, admitting that he’s having to do some serious background reading to bring himself up to speed, but explaining that the studio's pedigree has assured him he's not taking a risk...
“Marvel is a stable of bringing out ordinary comic characters and turning them into screen-like gods,” explains Cumberbatch. “It’s very different, it’s an Astral Plane. There’s a huge new element to this Marvel universe that’s going to be employed in building this story and this character.”
“But you know, I’m really excited about it, about working with Scott [Derrickson] whose imagination is endless, and all the boys and girls at Marvel who know what they’re doing.”
“I’ve got a few things to get under my belt first,” he continues. “I’ve got to do that little stage production of Hamlet in the summer and the Christmas special of Sherlock, which we start shooting in about three days’ time – Whoops! Yeah, that’s there.”
And as mentioned before, Cumberbatch isn’t currently the world’s biggest comic-book aficionado, and so has been feverishly catching up with a whole stack of Marvel tomes…
“There weren’t many comics in my household," he chuckles. "I’m so deprived. We didn’t have Marvel so much. But you can bet your bottom dollar I’m reading them now, avidly.”
Doctor Strange will open in the US on 4 November 2016, with a UK date to be confirmed.
