Benedict Cumberbatch in the portrayal of Doctor Strange has played a pivotal role in the superhero franchise, giving it incredible success. The actor has earned a remarkable fanbase for the superhero character and rose to the occasion.
Although the actor has been slaying his role, there’s one thing that Benedict Cumberbatch loathed. Marvel Cinematic Universe has undeniably boosted Cumberbatch to stardom but besides this glamorous success, the actor did not hesitate to reveal his thoughts.
Benedict Cumberbatch Hates One Thing About Marvel Despite Vast Budget
Despite the impressive budget and immense success, Benedict Cumberbatch did not hesitate to open up about what he disliked in the superhero franchise. Doctor Strange is Marvel’s one of the crowd-pleaser characters since it was introduced in 2016. Cumberbatch’s character proved to be a home run for fans who appreciated the cool and trippy special effects in the movie even though it was disliked by critics for being somewhat similar to Iron Man. In an interview with The Talks, Benedict Cumberbatch opened up about the challenges he faced to bring up quick emotions in the movie:
“You are working to do some of that but in the heartbeat of making a massive film like ‘The Avengers,’ for example, it can be tough getting that one moment of emotion absolutely nailed in five minutes because that’s all the time they have because of the other, bigger things around it.”
Cumberbatch shed light on how difficult it became for him to change emotions quickly in massive movies like Avengers where stars usually get short periods to film scenes. The reason why The Bubble star found doing emotional scenes challenging was the short time frame. Movies like Infinity War and Endgame took a year but only focused on small parts for their characters, given the number of characters involved.
Why Doctor Strange 2 Disappointed Many Fans
Doctor Strange in Multiverse of Madness did an incredible job at the box office collection and was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2022. Despite this massive success, many fans criticized the movie for mishandling characters. Especially how Wanda Maximoff was treated in the movie. Fans expected to witness the flawless transformations of Wanda Maximoff as Scarlett Witch in the movie which was much anticipated since the character was introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Wanda’s transformation from villainy to heroism was so fast that it made fans feel that this transition from an MCU villain to a hero wasn’t evolved accurately. Many even compared Doctor Strange 2 with Dark Phoenix for mishandling characters which wasn’t expected in a massive hit movie like Cumberbatch’s. Wanda was expected to bring her complexities and become more mysterious and a more evolved character within the MCU. Fans were disappointed after watching the unexpected transition of Wanda in Benedict Cumberbatch’s movie even though Doctor Strange 2 made its way to earn an impressive box office collection for the superhero franchise.
Watch Doctor Strange in Multiverse of Madness on Disney+
Source: The Talks
Frequently asked questions
What does Benedict Cumberbatch find tough about making Marvel movies?
Cumberbatch said the hard part is the very limited time actors get to capture a genuine emotional beat. In his words, in ‘the heartbeat of making a massive film like The Avengers,’ it ‘can be tough getting that one moment of emotion absolutely nailed in five minutes because that’s all the time they have.’ He framed it as a practical filmmaking constraint on huge ensemble productions, not a complaint about Marvel itself or its budget.
Which Marvel role and films is Cumberbatch referring to?
Cumberbatch plays Doctor Strange, whom he first portrayed in 2016’s Doctor Strange and later reprised in ensemble crossovers Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, as well as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. He used ‘The Avengers’ as a shorthand example for the kind of sprawling, multi-character production where a large cast and complex logistics leave each actor only a short window to shoot individual emotional scenes.
If Marvel has such big budgets, why is filming time still limited?
A large budget pays for effects, sets, and a sprawling cast, but it does not remove the scheduling pressure of coordinating many characters and storylines at once. According to the article, films like Infinity War and Endgame took roughly a year to shoot, yet each performer still got only small windows focused on their own parts. That is why Cumberbatch said nailing an emotional beat in about five minutes can be tough.
