Benedict Cumberbatch is adamant that Doctor Strange is not an Avenger.
Despite the fact that he has helped Iron Man, Captain America, and co. save the world on numerous occasions, the actor doesn't see the Marvel character as a fully-fledged part of the team. Why? Well, because his heroics revolve more around time and space than they do flesh-and-blood – or machine, in Ultron's case – enemies.
"People say that you were in the Avengers, but you're not an Avenger, right? No, I'm not. I'm not at Stark Tower with Nick Fury," Cumberbatch said during a recent interview with KCRW. "No, he's sort of outside of that realm, but I don't think that's necessarily a character trait. I think that is just a job title.
"He's there to protect the reality of the Avengers in a different way to what they have been fighting, up until the point that everything collides in the last two Avengers movies."
"He holds his position as an adult on the periphery of that, but I think only for so long," the Sherlock star continued. "There's always a moment where he has to work with people and team up. And you know, we might see that in the next film; you'll have to wait and see."
Cumberbatch will next be seen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as the titular mystic arts master tries to deal with the mind-bending, and potentially disastrous, consequences of a forbidden spell gone awry.
Patrick Stewart, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg, Rachel McAdams, and Elizabeth Olsen also feature in the Sam Raimi-directed flick. While we wait for its release on May 6, why not check out our breakdown of the ever-expanding Marvel timeline.
