Benedict Cumberbatch says that Doctor Strange encountering his variants serve as self-therapy for the protagonist.
Marvel Studios’ newest film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness further explores the concept of the Multiverse, as expected based on the title. The concept had been explored thanks to Loki and most recently, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which showcases the idea of characters having multiple variants of themselves. In the case for this sequel, Benedict Cumberbatch gets to portray different versions of Stephen Strange.
Throughout the new film, Doctor Strange encounters not only his variants, but also some of his own personal issues. In particular, he has to deal with his lingering feelings for his former flame, Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). During the press conference for the sequel, Benedict Cumberbatch was asked about portraying different variants of his character, and expressed how he sees it as Stephen having some sort of “self-therapy:”
“I just think what the Strange we know learns, really, from that. You know, this multiversal narrative structure or idea is like it is in our own lives. We play multiple roles. We have an incredible capacity and imaginative space in our subconscious to imagine ourselves into different circumstances in our dream scape and I feel that this is an extrapolation of that in the sense that he’s meeting other versions who are essentially him, but they’ve made different choices in different circumstances with different outcomes. So, it’s a great fuel from a very odd spectacular self-therapy, really.”
While fans are mostly interested in the Multiverse concept thanks to how it could potentially bring in variants of characters, as exhibited with the appearances of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire alongside Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home, what is arguably more important is how it can serve the growth for our characters. Sure, it’s cool to see Benedict Cumberbatch play different variants of Doctor Strange, but if they are not there to serve in the development of him as a character, then it’s nothing more than a gimmick.
Here is the synopsis for the new MCU film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness:
The MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.
Directed by Sam Raimi from a script written by Michael Waldron, the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stuhlbarg, Rachel McAdams, and Patrick Stewart.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the future of the MCU, as well as what comes next for Benedict Cumberbatch, and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
