Stephen Strange dedicated his adult life to surgery, but this fall, he'll find a new line of work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Doctor Strange will follow the eponymous protagonist as he learns about magic, and with these new abilities, he'll become one of Earth's most powerful defenders. However, if you ask Benedict Cumberbatch, it's not the ability to harness magic that makes Doctor Strange a great superhero. It's how he always picks himself back up.
Along with conjuring spells, Strange will use special items in his fight against evil, including the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation, in his upcoming movie, but Cumberbatch told EW that it's not the spells or artifacts that make him special. It's his "refusal to give up." The actor said:
This man reaches the very bottom and then more. You think, How much more can this guy take? He's broken, he gets up again, he's broken --- and that's really what makes him a superhero. A lot of people have asked me, 'What makes him a superhero?' That's really the answer I should have given. It's not the Cloak of Levitation. It's not the Eye of Agamotto. It's about his staying power. It's a marathon and not a sprint. The guy endures so much.
Doctor Strange will definitely distinguish himself among the other MCU superheroes thanks to his powers stemming from magic rather than science, technology or some kind of cosmic force. Nevertheless, that determination Benedict Cumberbatch mentioned is something Stephen had in him for decades in the comics, even before he was wielding magic. He was originally a brilliant, yet arrogant, surgeon, but after getting caught in car accident, his hands were irreparably damaged and his career was cut short. Desperate for a cure, he traveled across the world for someone to heal him, and while he didn't find help with that, he found a new destiny and was no longer broken.
Of course, when it comes to endurance, we'll see what Stephen Strange is made of when he starts using magic and becomes the Sorcerer Supreme in his upcoming movie. Under the tutorship of The Ancient One, Baron Mordo and Wong, he'll learn how to wield the mystical forces, but it won't be without struggle, as we saw in the latest trailer. After gaining an appropriate amount of experience, he'll immediately be thrust into action to battle Mads Mikkelsen's Kaecilius and his forces, who threaten not just our realm, but other realities. So for all the flash and pizazz of Doctor Strange's spells and artifacts, it's that refusal to give up that will see him through to the end, no matter how low things get.
We'll see Stephen Strange protect our reality from various mystical threats when Doctor Strange hits theaters on November 4.
