Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Doctor Strange
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Doctor Strange, the 14th theatrical addition to the MCU is just around the corner now from it's U.S. release date and hits the U.K. today. Critical reception has so far been positive, with praise for the film's cast and weird, wild special effects sequences. Despite dozens of trailers and TV spots, the plot still has a few tricks up its sleeve for audience members. So if you haven't already seen the film, this article will give away a major plot point that Marvel hasn't let slip yet in the marketing materials.
As many had hoped, Mads Mikkelsen's Kaecilius is not the only villain in the story. The final act features the Dread Dormammu, a CG character who doesn't appear in the film's credits. It turns out that Dormammu's performance didn't belong to just one actor, though star Benedict Cumberbatch was at least part of the equation.
In an interview with IGN, director Scott Derrickson revealed the process behind bringing Dormammu to life.
"The voice was a British actor whose name I don't know, and Benedict – Benedict did the facial capture for it."
According to Derrickson, the idea for the dual performance was all Cumberbatch.
"It's an interesting idea because I did fancy the idea that as this other-dimensional being he's not moving through the Dark Dimension, with a countenance, with eyes and a face, eyes and a mouth, and a human visage – why would he? He takes that form on to communicate with Strange.
"The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea because no one understood Dormammu better than Benedict did. I also wrote that role to be a kind of ultra-inflated version of Strange. He is an ego run amok; he is this cosmic conqueror where everything, where literally everything in the multiverse is about him. There's something interesting about this confrontation of this little, tiny guy who has this power of time and this monstrous conqueror who is trapped by a clever gambit. There's something about it that worked well, and I didn't think of anybody [better] to interact with Benedict than he, himself."
This won't be Cumberbatch's first work in mo-cap. He played the villainous dragon Smaug in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, leading to a very amusing behind-the-scenes performance. This may, however, be the first time Cumberbatch has played both the hero and the villain in a film.
Stay tuned to Screen Rant for updates and impressions of Doctor Strange as they hit.
Source: IGN