‘Doctor Strange’ Star Benedict Cumberbatch Hopes Audiences Will Get Their Minds Blown

Part Matrix with a little Harry Potter sprinkled on top, Doctor Strange promises to look and feel unlike any other Marvel movie. And that’s exactly the intention, said star Benedict Cumberbatch about the MCU’s first film to conjure up heavy doses of sorcery and spirituality.

“In amongst that, there’s a very serious message, which is the idea of selflessness, the idea of how you go on a journey of self-discovery to realize you know nothing and that’s the beginning of knowledge,” Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game, Star Trek Into Darkness) told us at Comic-Con (watch above) shortly after Marvel’s splashy panel.

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Cumberbatch stars as Dr. Stephen Strange, an egocentric neurosurgeon who, following a devastating accident, is recruited by The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) to master the mystic arts and hop dimensions while, of course, also saving the universe.

The Oscar-nominated actor promised the film, which employs hyper-stylized visuals reminiscent of the Matrix trilogy, will have the same effect on its viewers as the Wachowskis-directed movies about a bendable, computer-generated alternate reality.

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“You have this man who comes from a very logical, binary universe where everything makes sense, as a right or wrong, as a plus or minus, and he just gets his mind [blown]” Cumberbatch said. “And hopefully because you go with him, the audience as well will get their minds completely blown open to the endless possibilities that are out there.”

"And that, to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, brings this huge new canvas, which is so exciting.”

Doctor Strange, which is directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister) and also stars Chiwetel Ejifor, Rachel McAdams, and Mads Mikkelsen, opens Nov. 4.