Many of the most-anticipated things about the new Doctor Strange movie involve everything but Doctor Strange.
What will happen to Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), whose streaming success with “WandaVision” made her one of the most popular superheroes at Marvel Studios? How much will we see of America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who in the comics is Latina and a lesbian? Will the X-Men make their Marvel Studios debut? What about Namor the Sub-Mariner? Could the original actor connected to the role of Iron Man, Tom Cruise, show up as the new Tony Stark? Okay, maybe that’s pushing it.
But Cumberbatch, returning to the role of Marvel’s superpowered sorcerer, perhaps the most self-confident of all Avengers, says he knew exactly what he was signing up for in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which is now out in theaters. And he’s fine with it.
“This is a very crowded marquee with a lot of characters and a lot of plot, a lot of story, especially because we properly explore the multiverse in this one,” Cumberbatch told The Washington Post. “The complexities and layers of that mean yes, it’s a stand-alone feature with my character’s name in the title, but it’s not all about him.”
After all, many of Cumberbatch’s big moments as Doctor Strange have come while sharing the screen. In 2019′s “Avengers: Endgame,” with no words and just one finger, he told Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man that it was time to die. He played a key role in another multiverse tale, last winter’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the billion-dollar hit that has been the biggest movie in the pandemic era so far at the box office.
Cumberbatch still gets opportunities to flex own his superhero muscles in the new film by playing multiple alternate universe versions of Doctor Strange. These include heroic, seemingly evil and zombielike versions of the superhero, who was created by the late Steve Ditko and Stan Lee and first appeared in Marvel Comics “Strange Tales” No. 110 back in 1963. Cumberbatch first dabbled with a Doctor Strange from a different world when he voiced the character in the animated series “What If…?” last year.
Ego seems to be the common denominator among the variants — he never works well with others. But Cumberbatch says Strange has to learn to rely on someone other than himself.
“These parallel existences have a similarity about them but there’s also key differences,” Cumberbatch said. “It was a challenge … to create something that’s different but at the same time recognizably Strange. There’s an element of him that’s constant. But he’s still really injured by his ego and his arrogance and his belief that he has to be the one holding the knife. This film really undoes that logic and stress-tests him in a way that means his evolution is such that he can’t operate as a solo entity. He has to collaborate.”
The Avenger more experienced with alternate realities is Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, after her time on “WandaVision.” That show’s themes of grief and denial bleed into Olsen’s role in “Multiverse of Madness,” and she told The Post that Wanda and Doctor Strange are more alike than they realize.
“I think these characters are meant to be in the same world together,” Olsen said. “It’s exciting that we actually get to put them in the same world because they have an understanding of each other. They’re both kind of independents in a way.”
In the director’s chair is Sam Raimi, whom many consider to be the godfather of superhero cinema. Twenty years ago, he directed Tobey Maguire in the first “Spider-Man” movie, a film credited with opening the door to the current superhero dominance in the entertainment industry.
“The guy is so humble, and he had a hard task. He was coming into this late and hasn’t done it in a while,” Cumberbatch said, referring to Raimi returning to superhero movies to replace original director, Scott Derrickson, who helmed the first Doctor Strange film in 2016 (and reportedly left over “creative differences”). “It wasn’t off-putting in the slightest to think about his strengths and his status in this genre and the horror genre, both of which are aligning in this movie. It just felt like a good fit and the right person to be taking this rich, complex character into the most bonkers story and adventure that he’s had to date.”
Raimi said Cumberbatch eased the director’s return to superhero moviemaking with his dedication.
“He wanted us to be true to Doctor Strange and not play the obvious,” Raimi said. “He would always challenge me and challenge the material to be the best it could be.”
Lately, a role as a Marvel Studios superhero is as critic-proof as you can get in Hollywood. The die-hards, and the box office money, will be there. Cumberbatch recognizes the growing divide between dedicated fanboys and the movie critics who would prefer superhero movies stop being made. He knows there are those who would much rather see him in movies such as “The Power of the Dog,” the Netflix western that brought him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.
But Cumberbatch credits “larger fare” such as Doctor Strange with allowing him to take on films such as “The Mauritanian,” the story of a Mauritanian man who spent 14 years in a Guantánamo Bay detention camp before finally being released in 2016, and “The Courier,” about a businessman recruited to be a spy in the Cold War.
“I love doing both sort of sides to the cultural argument. I’m not interested in one or the other over one or the other,” Cumberbatch said. “We’ve always lived in a system that either through studios or stars has helped to finance smaller fare and draw attention to important stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told. … And yes, we have to be on guard for any homogenized lack of choice. But you don’t have to look far to see there is a wide spectrum of art, and audiences are all about art. So live and let live.”
Cumberbatch’s movies have faced minor barbs for their portrayals of LGBTQ characters, including “Power of the Dog” facing criticism from Sam Elliott and the “Doctor Strange” sequel reportedly creating conflict with Saudi Arabia. He says what’s at stake is much more than the politics around a movie, calling the latter situation an “expected disappointment.”
“To think this is a historic issue is a massive underestimation of the real-world problems that people in excluded communities face” Cumberbatch said. “Another important aspect of making films on this scale: I’m able to highlight the fact that people are not just excluded, but they are beaten, tortured and sometimes executed for their sexuality in 2022. I’m very proud to be an ally of those oppressed and sometimes underrepresented communities to promote equality that should exist in our lives.”
Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange remains one of the most recognizable Marvel Studios superheroes, in part because of how dedicated he is to getting the comic-book look right. A key factor in his transformation: his goatee. His secret?
“Keep it real,” Cumberbatch said, which he does with the help of a stylist. “As in don’t have a fake one. Without a man who knows what to do with a razor and a good bit of lighting and mirrors? I’d be at a loss.”
Michael Cavna contributed to this report.
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