Benedict Cumberbatch's 'ability to play a character deeply flawed' is what made him right for the role of Doctor Strange, says director Scott Derrickson.
Doctor Strange
Cumberbatch is set to take on the role of Doctor Strange in the autumn as he steps into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time.
The movie, which will be the second Marvel film to be released this year, sees Derrickson in the director's chair. This will also be his first Marvel film and his first collaboration with the British actor.
Cumberbatch was one of the early front-runners for the role of Stephen Strange and Derrickson hints as to why the actor landed the role.
Speaking to GamesRadar, the director said: "I think it's the ability to play a character deeply flawed. In this case, a character who starts off at the height of egocentricity, and is brought down, and falls from grace very hard very fast, very early in the film.
"And you get to watch his climb out of that, and ultimately his climb out of his own ego. And that's really what the movie's about. Even though there's all these big psychedelic images in the film, it is in the end, a movie about one man overcoming himself."
The director has brought together a very exciting cast list for the film as Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen, and Benedict Wong all star alongside Cumberbatch.
The movie comes hot on the heels of the huge success of Captain America: Civil War and will be just one of the new franchises that we see launched during Phase 3.
At the moment, we don't know if the character of Stephen Strange - who does get a name drop in Captain America: The Winter Solider - will play a bigger role in the MCU at this movie. The cast list for the upcoming Avengers double bill is yet to be revealed.
As for Derrickson, Doctor Strange is the biggest role of his directing career and the first time that he has tackled a big budget blockbuster. However, he is no stranger to the director's chair with the likes of Deliver Us from Evil and Sinister under his belt in recent years.
The early trailers for Doctor Strange really do promise much and it is set to be one of the autumn movies that you cannot afford to miss.
Doctor Strange is released 28th October.