Even though "Doctor Strange" won't be released until Nov. 4 of next year, people are already obsessing over the new 2016 Marvel film's leading man, Benedict Cumberbatch. Some exciting news too, as fans might finally be able to see one of the Infinity Gauntlet's six stones: The Time Gem! On the other hand, the "Sherlock" star wasn't all too keen on portraying Stephen Strange, either.
"No, it's not something that I had on my bucket list, as they would say," the 39-year-old British actor said. "I have to play Stephen Strange!!!"
Ostensibly, Cumberbatch's apprehension to play the role of "a surgeon-turned-sorcerer" traces back to his teen years. When Benedict was 19 years old, he flew to West Bengal in eastern India to teach Tibetan monks the English language.
"It was a very unfair exchange," said the "Black Mass" actor. "Basically, they taught me reams, fathoms, more than I could possibly begin [to teach them]. I became interested the meeting point between Western logic and Eastern mysticism."
As it turns out, Cumberbatch had an epiphany while studying the character of Doctor Strange. According to Entertainment Weekly:
"He realized that this tale of an injured physician who comes to understand and accept the reality of supernatural forces and alternative dimensions dovetailed nicely with his own interests."
"I knew it was on their slate, I knew it was coming up, so I got invested in it and I was interested," Cumberbatch said. "What happens here in this origin story is, Strange realizes the power he has within his body is not about his body."
"It's something that's beyond the casual-temporal-linear-reality that he knows so well as a [surgeon], Benedict Cumberbatch continued to explain. "We come from this very casual world into this mystical, magical world of other realms and sorcery."
On Monday, Entertainment Weekly released some exclusive photos of "Doctor Strange," which the publication deems as "Marvel's most mystical, magical movie ever."
Meanwhile, RadioTimes is looking to figure out what Doctor Strange's costume depicts for the future of other Marvel films. As it turns out, Cumberbatch's character is constantly seen wearing an amulet, called The Eye of Agamotto.
"Doctor Strange" producer Kevin Feige seemed to imply, in an interview, that the amulet is actually the 'Time Gem," one of the six stones on the Infinity Gauntlet, which has constantly been teased and introduced in other Marvel films.
The Mind Gem was seen in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," while the Space Gem was featured the first "Avengers" film in the form of the Tesseract.
"Thor: The Dark World" was the one to expose the Reality Gem, which is the Aether. Meanwhile, "Guardians of the Galaxy" was responsible for showcasing the Power Gem.