Benedict Cumberbatch shares the secrets of Doctor Strange
Benedict Cumberbatch has stepped into into the Marvel Universe as Doctor Strange in the newest solo Avenger movie.
The film tells the story of a brilliant neurosurgeon whose life changes after he loses the use of his hands in a car crash and he is introduced to a world of magic, mystery and alternate dimensions by a very bald Tilda Swinton.
Benedict visited Radio 1 Breakfast to spill the secrets of the movie - both on screen and behind the scenes. Here's what we learned.
Benedict wasn't sure he was the right person to play the character
"People that know this world and this character much better than me said 'yes you can' and you should relish it because there are loads of challenges in this story."
He loved the training that came with playing the part
"You're facilitated the whole way and to me that's a privilege.
"I'm 40 now so I need to do something like that and I actually enjoyed doing it. "
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Filming Doctor Strange came at a rather hectic time in Benedict's life
"I was rehearsing for the film during the day, playing Hamlet at night and i'd just become a new father. I needed my energy and I needed to be strong to a degree and the training really helped.
"It was quite a few months but all three of things, the baby the most important, were just wonderful."
The story follows the transformation of Dr Stephen Strange
"He goes on this amazing journey from this egotistical, materialistic individual to this character from the comics, this sorcerer, Doctor Strange.
"I loved who he was at the beginning of the film and how he transforms with humour and an amazing amount of hard knocks including a spectacular car crash. He doesn't lose his hands but he loses the ability to perform surgery and that's why he goes on a search to heal his hands but discovers something so much more - which is becoming a sorcerer."
Did you think there was a lot going on in the Thor movies? They've got nothing on Doctor Strange
"This is a film where you've got magic, you travel to other dimensions, the altering of time, all sorts of incredible relics and power from this sorcerer's hands to battle with.
"There's a lot going on."
The film features some surreal CGI sequences
"He meets the ancient one, played by Tilda Swinto, and meets her with the anger and the cynicism you'd expect from a surgeon who'd lost his hands in a car accident.
"He gets this 'magical mystery tour' where she tries to blow his mind to the possibilites of what he doesn't know and what he doesn't understand.
"You sit there as a member of the audience going 'I feel a little bit like Dr Strange right now', it's the most extraordinary piece of cinema. It's moving, funny and trippy. It's brilliant."
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The film uses a technique called mandlebrotting
"Mandlebrotting is that kaleidoscopic effect with just one central moment and everything else starts falling in on itself but we go a bit further than that.
"There are some stunning sequences. The usual chase sequence is taken apart and thrown like a jigsaw everywhere and that's what you're seeing on screen with people upside down and sideways."
But there's a lot more to enjoy than the special effects
"It's a huge character arc to play, which is a always a real treat for an actor, especially when a lot of the asks in a film like this are about stunts or special effects.
"It's just so new, not just to me but hopefully the audience as well, that they alone would have been the meal ticket for me, but I just loved the story."
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Benedict recommends seeing Doctor Strange on as big a screen as possible
"We're having a screening in the IMAX which is a great way to see this film. The special effects are all new and they do a very new thing in the film.
"It's not the usual destruction, it's the opposite of that. There's stuff that's out of our realm."
Doctor Strange is released on 25 October 2016
