Spider-Man: No Way Home Star Benedict Cumberbatch Says the Film Will Ignite Major Fan Debates

Benedict Cumberbatch is in full Marvel mode having just voiced his character, Doctor Strange, in the What If…? episode, “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands.” He’ll also be seen on the big screen at the end of the year in Spider-Man: No Way Home before reprising his role once again in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness next year. Things took an incredibly dark turn in the Doctor Strange episode of What If…?, and seeing the character in a new, evil light has raised questions about Cumberbatch’s upcoming appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Many fans now believe the Doctor Strange seen in the trailer isn’t the version of him we know and love. No matter what is going on with Doctor Strange in the upcoming movie, Cumberbatch teases it’s going to be controversial.

“Yeah, [Spider-Man: No Way Home] will be a lot, a lot of fun. There will be a lot of debate about it, I’m sure, but it’s a daring, brilliant concept,” Cumberbatch shared with the Variety Awards Circut Podcast. “It has got great ambition […] I haven’t seen it, but by all accounts I think it’s achieved it. And I mean, even on paper, the audacity of it, like, ‘How the hell is that gonna work?’ Also, so excited about the overall opportunity of them exploring those ideas. So yeah, I’ll be really interested to see how it comes out. But I’m pretty certain it’ll be a hit.”

Variety then asked, “I interviewed Tom [Holland] last year, and he said that he thinks it’s the most ambitious standalone superhero movie ever made. Would you agree with that?” Cumberbatch replied, “Until Doctor Strange 2… Throwing it down, Tom! But yeah, for now, it will do…”

Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently scheduled to hit theatres in December, and the long-awaited first trailer for the movie was finally released at the end of last month. Since the movie went into production, there have been many casting rumors about the film, including the longstanding belief that it will feature former Spider-Men, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Holland has denied these rumors, but we do know for a fact that Alfred Molina will be returning as Doc Ock from the Maguire-led Spider-Man 2.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently scheduled to hit theatres on December 17th, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is expected to hit theaters on March 25, 2022. In the meantime, Marvel’s 2021 line-up includes What If…? which releases new episodes on Disney+ on Wednesdays, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in theaters now, Eternals in theatres on November 5th, and Hawkeye premiering on Disney+ November 24th.