Doctor Strange: Benedict Cumberbatch seen in new exclusive images

In Marvel’s new, Scott Derrickson-directed superhero movie Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch plays Stephen Strange, a New York surgeon whose hands are horribly damaged in a car accident and who subsequently acquires seemingly-magical superpowers under the mentorship of Tilda Swinton’s Nepal-dwelling mystic, The Ancient One. Strange also acquires a pair of extremely useful pieces of costume in the form of his Cloak of Levitation and hugely powerful artifact, the Eye of Agamotto. But the British actor and Sherlock star insists that what really makes Strange a superhero is not his ability to fly nor to cast spells but rather his refusal to give up.

“This man reaches the very bottom and then more,” says Cumberbatch. “You think, How much more can this guy take? He’s broken, he gets up again, he’s broken — and that’s really what makes him a superhero. A lot of people have asked me, ‘What makes him a superhero?’ That’s really the answer I should have given. It’s not the Cloak of Levitation. It’s not the Eye of Agamotto. It’s about his staying power. It’s a marathon and not a sprint. The guy endures so much.”

Doctor Strange, also starring Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Benedict Wong, opens in theaters on Nov. 4. You can see exclusive images from the film above.

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