Näyttelijä Benedict Cumberbatch on kertonut Esquiren haastattelussa, että hän melkein kieltäytyi Marvelilta saamastaan tarjouksesta näytellä Doctor Strangea. Hän koki hahmon paitsi seksistisenä, myös muutenkin vanhanaikaisena.
"I kind of had my doubts about it, from just going into the comics. I thought 'This is a very dated, sexist character.' And it's very tied up in that crossover, that kind of East meets West occultism movement of the Sixties and Seventies. And then they sort of sold me on the bigger picture, on 'Oh no, don't worry, this will be very much a character of his time. And, yes, he has attitude problems... but this is what we envisage.'"
Muitakin näyttelijöitä oli harkinnassa, mutta Marvel jatkoi Benedict Cumberbatchin suostuttelua. Ensimmäinen elokuva oli hyvä, mutta jatko-osan Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness suhteen hän on hieman huolissaan.
"I've got the Second Album Fear with this one, like anyone should, because the first one was such a riotous success and he's become a much-loved character."
Cumberbatch lohduttaa itseään sillä, että Marvelilla on kuitenkin tapana onnistua.
"They're very good at exceeding expectations, when expectations are low. I think it's always harder to exceed them when they're high. I'm not saying they make them low. 'We're going to do Ant-Man!' It's just the way they make these things work. On paper you think 'Is that exciting?' They're starting to take more risks now, I think. I mean, their directors are very tied into the house style. But, you know, Taika Waititi, they were, like, 'Are we...? Is this going to work?' And it's fucking so funny, Thor: Ragnarok."
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness saapunee ensi-iltaan toukokuussa 2022.