Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange trailer

First look at Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange

Video by News Team | 13 Apr 2016

Marvel have already bludgeoned us with their A-list of Avengers. As ‘Phase Three’ kicks in, some of the imprint’s B-players are set to step up to the plate. Enter Marvel deep cut Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange, a brilliant surgeon who turns superhero after his hands are damaged in an accident and only mystical arts can restore them (or something).

Doctor Strange’s first trailer, sharply timed to whet appetites for the upcoming Marvel extravaganza Captain America: Civil War, appeared last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and it's given us the first chance to see much-loved British thesp Benedict Cumberbatch in action as the troubled neurosurgeon-cum-sorcerer. Will he step into superhero mode as seamlessly as fellow Brit stars Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Henry Cavill? Check the trailer above and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Here’s what we learned from the first teaser trailer:

Cumberbatch’s American accent is murder

If you had the misfortune of catching Black Mass, you’ll know that Cumberbatch has delivered one of the all time worst Boston accents in film, beating off tough competition from the likes of Tom Hanks (Catch Me if You Can), Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island, The Departed) and that guy who plays Mayor Quimby in The Simpsons. From the first few seconds of the Doctor Strange trailer, it appears that generic American is also beyond him. Is it so bad that it will cripple his whole performance? Only time will tell.

Tilda Swinton is badass

Tilda Swinton plays a kung-fu monk. She’s also bald. Need we say more?

This is basically The Matrix, right?

If you’re bored of Marvel’s formula of 'bad guy gets hold of MacGuffin that will end the world unless our hero stops bad guy in an overblown, collateral damage-causing showdown', then fear not. Doctor Strange looks to offer something different, but it’s hardly fresh. Stephen Strange seems to be living his life quite peacefully before realising that there’s a whole other reality outside the one he knows, and Swinton’s character is the Morpheus-figure to open his eyes and unleash his powers. We hope the Wachowskis aren’t feeling litigious.

Yes, those effects are cool, but we’ve seen them somewhere before

Not only is imagery from The Matrix pilfered, they also seem to have nicked the money shot from Inception, where we see Paris fold in on itself. Fingers crossed that Marvel are saving their fresh ideas for the movie.


Doctor Strange is released 28 Oct by Disney