Benedict Cumberbatch revealed during an interview for Variety’s Sundance cover that his immediate reaction to the news that Robert Downey Jr. was returning to Marvel as the villainous Doctor Doom was complete and utter shock. After all, Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange shared many scenes with Downey’s Iron Man in films like “Avengers: Endgame.”
Downey’s surprise Doctor Doom role was announced to the world at Comic-Con last year, and Cumberbatch immediately grabbed his phone to message Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige.
“I texted, ‘What the fuck?’ and then quickly added, ‘Good what-the-fuck. I mean, good what-the-fuck,’” Cumberbatch said.
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Downey will debut as the Marvel villain in 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” which will also mark the returns of longtime MCU directors Joe and Anthony Russo. But Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will not be facing off against Doom in that superhero tentpole. “Is that a spoiler?” he asks. “Fuck it!”
According to Cumberbatch, plans for Doctor Strange to appear in the next “Avengers” movie were overhauled when Jonathan Majors got axed by Marvel after he was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Majors’ villain Kang was going to be the new “Avengers” villain. That duty now falls to Downey, and Cumberbatch said Doctor Strange sitting out “Doomsday” has to do with “the character not aligning with this part of the story.” But Doctor Strange will be “in a lot” of 2027’s “Avengers: Secret Wars” and is “quite central to where things might go,” the actor teased.
While fans will have to wait a bit longer than expected for Cumberbatch and Downey to reunite, the actor is thrilled about Downey returning to Marvel. Cumberbatch said his performance was “a bit stiff” in the first “Doctor Strange” movie as he found it difficult to figure out how to stay relaxed while working inside the Marvel machine. Watching Downey’s banter with Tom Holland in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” taught Cumberbatch that a Marvel set isn’t made for the tightly-wound.
“I learned a lot by seeing how at ease and improvisatory they are,” he said. “It’s hard because you have this huge apparatus around you, but it’s so important.”
Read Cumberbatch’s Variety Sundance cover in its entirety here.