ABC/Jim Lee(NEW YORK) — Benedict Cumberbatch’s new Marvel movie, Doctor Strange, has him playing the titular hero, Dr. Stephen Strange, an arrogant, reknowned neurosurgeon whose search for a cure after a debilitating accident leads him to become a master of the mystic arts.
The movie, which had a nearly 90 million dollar debut overseas is coming to these shores Friday. The movie’s lead says the role was, “great, great fun to do.”
“It was just incredible. This job first and foremost was an acting gig,” the Emmy-winning Sherlock actor told Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts today. “He’s this extraordinary neurosurgeon and he’s kind of built a gilded cage without knowing it and he goes from that to a place of utter selflessness where by the end of the film, you’re looking at him on his own, choosing a path that’s about other people and you think, ‘Yeah, OK. You are now an Avenger. I believe that you’ll go join them.”
He also said the special effects in this film are, “properly stunning to watch.”
“It’s extraordinary when you do these films because part of the special effects are the real world environments that Marvel creates around you,” he explained. “But I tell you what. I saw this for the first time at the LA premiere and it is mind blowing. It is extraordinary what they’ve done. It just melts the real with the unreal in a kind of seamless way.”
Cumberbatch, 40, is also keeping busy as a new father. His son Christopher turned 1 in June, and he and his wife, Sophie Hunter, are now expecting their second child.
“It’s amazing. It’s a game changer,” he said of parenthood. “It’s the best thing in my life. It’s just a joy.”
“Doctor Strange, which also stars Oscar winner Tilda Swinton and Rachel McAdams, hits theaters Friday from Marvel Studios, which like ABC News, is owned by Disney.
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