For any who have been involved in the production of films, plays, or acting of any sort, they would say the aspect of incorporating emotions when needed into the delivery of performances is key to being top-notch in your field. For those who portray characters with superhuman attributes who zip across worlds, protecting their inhabitants from terrors unknown, it might be easy to assume they need to be unrelentingly stoic. However, Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the role of Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of the Avengers, has revealed an unexpected challenge that has come with the filming of the Avengers movies.
Cumberbatch’s Doctor Stephen Strange recently headlined the Marvel film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness wherein there was a crazy journey through multiple timelines. But before that, the Sorcerer Supreme played an integral role in the final two movies that wrapped up the Infinity Saga. His presence in the narrative to vanquish the Mad Titan, Thanos (Josh Brolin) is further accentuated as he was the only one who knew how to defeat the main villain. For as many that have seen both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame will note, both films were emotionally charged affairs, and Cumberbatch has revealed that pulling off these scenes was no easy feat.
In a conversation with The Talks, Cumberbatch opened up about his acting experiences in the MCU, revealing that it’s particularly difficult to get an emotional scene in the Avengers movies “absolutely nailed” due to the constraints of the storyline. The actor said:
“It’s all smoke and mirrors! It’s not some sort of acting gym where you’re stripping off layers of self to reveal a layer of truth all the time. You are working to do some of that but in the heartbeat of making a massive film like The Avengers, for example, it can be tough getting that one moment of emotion absolutely nailed in five minutes because that’s all the time they have because of the other, bigger things around it.”
Given the many emotionally charged scenes we witnessed during the respective runtimes of both films, it is proper to applaud the performances of the cast that delivered such intensely moving moments. Cumberbatch did go on to add that the Avengers films were more attentive to “how to service story,” and were not for character development. “Well, precision is one thing. In this instance, it’s not a massive development of the character,” the actor said. “It’s about how to service the story at the same time as balancing the integrity of a now much-loved part of the Marvel cinematic universe.”
While Cumberbatch might feel this way, we still look forward to the next installments of the Avengers in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. We will watch to see how the characters cope with the emotional scenes that lie ahead in this new adventure, however, when emotional scenes abound in Marvel’s newest release Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the first litmus test.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases in theaters on November 11. Watch the trailer below:
