MCU: 15 most perfectly cast actors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel’s DOCTOR STRANGE..Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)..Photo Credit: Film Frame ..©2016 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.

11. Benedict Cumberbatch

Character: Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange

By 2016, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had dabbled in practically every form of craziness you could imagine. From ancient worlds and inter-planetary wars and enhanced super-soldiers and size-manipulation, it had already seen it all. However, that all changed with the release of Doctor Strange when things got a lot, well, stranger.

At this stage, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was already overflowing with a mixture of newcomers and its veteran headliners, so introducing a character that, like many before him, wasn’t that well-known to mainstream audiences was undoubtedly a risk. Thus, to bring about this new era, director Scott Derrickson needed someone capable of getting audiences to buy tickets and, perhaps more importantly, embrace the weird. With that in mind, there was never really any option other than Benedict Cumberbatch.

From Sherlock to Patrick Melrose, Cumberbatch is no stranger to characters that are a little on the eccentric side and, as he has shown us many times before, he is at his best when playing these types of roles. Naturally, he brought all of that to the table in his incredibly layered performance as Stephen Strange, while also responding immensely well to his first foray into the superhero genre. He was completely at home with all of the in-depth aspects of Stephen’s personality while also proving to be a very believable and compelling protagonist – making it a lot easier to get emotionally invested in his story.

While his casting may have been predictable to some, it was an integral (and genius) move that opened the Marvel Cinematic Universe up to a number of new possibilities and, quite frankly, watching Benedict Cumberbatch perform is an exhilarating experience.

Mesmerizing doesn’t even begin to cover it.