Doctor Strange Actor Benedict Cumberbatch Improvised One of the Biggest Moments in Spider-Man: No Way Home

Some of the most memorable moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were entirely improvised; even more so when it comes to Spider-Man: No Way Home. Since the movie has been released, it’s been said Zendaya improvised one of the film’s funniest moments while Andrew Garfield thought of another heartwarming tidbit. Now comes along Benedict Cumberbatch, who says he also improvised one of his biggest moments in the film.

During a conversation at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Cumberbatch applauded filmmaker Jon Watts for allowing actors to improvise or act out moments that weren’t scripted.

“There was this one moment near the end of the film, where we were really trying to make that moment work, at the top of the Statue of Liberty. Tom [Holland] was having a tough time with the script, as it was before the reshoots,” Cumberbatch said (via Collider). “And then, we did the reshoots and I came up with this idea of, to show that I love him, I didn’t want him to make the sacrifice of being forgotten. He was like, ‘That’s gonna be in the film.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, cool. That’s great.’”

The Doctor Strange star then went on to reveal he learned a substantial amount in improvisation while working with both Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr. on the set of Avengers: Infinity War.

“You throw yourself out there in those huge sand pits. The remarkable thing I learned from Tom Holland and RDJ on Infinity War was seeing how at ease he was, just in improvising about Aunt May with Robert Downey Jr.,” he added. “He did this thing which wasn’t scripted at all. I’m quite a canon guy. It’s about the text for me. To be free with that and to have some maneuverability in it and to be able to improvise, and on such a large canvas, was a real eye-opener.”

Spider-Man: No Way Home is now in theaters and hits digital release on March 15th.

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