Jane Campion’s latest movie, The Power of the Dog, brought out Benedict Cumberbatch’s mastery of acting in such an obvious way that it’s impossible not to wonder whether Marvel might have wasted his talents. Imagining someone else in the MCU role seems impossible, and Cumberbatch has been a fitting Doctor Strange through the years. Still, The Power of Dog shows how great he can be at portraying tormented and difficult characters, something that cannot be truly appreciated in his role of Doctor Strange.
Cumberbatch plays Phil Burbank in The Power of the Dog, a 1920s Montana rancher who takes care of the practical side of the business, while his brother George (Jesse Plemons) handles the administrative side. Phil’s whole life is about the ranch, along with the belief there’s a right way to be a man, which often comes up in arguments with his brother, especially regarding the son of George’s wife, Rose (Kirsten Dunst). Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Phil is layered and rewarding, as, at any stage, Phil’s cruelest impulses can be seen onscreen, closely followed by his better moments when he seems to be giving humanity a chance.
While both Doctor Strange and Phil Burbank can be viewed as arrogant at first, The Power of the Dog does an impeccable job showing Phil’s humanity, despite his very bad attitude and contempt of society, mixed with his strict adherence to what he believes are its demands. At the same time, Stephen Strange can be seen as an egotistical surgeon that, thrown off his life path as he planned it, finally realizes his new purpose after espousing values that are different from what he was accustomed to. Still, Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Strange in Doctor Strange is more straightforward than Phil Burbank’s.
It’s not the performance’s fault it may feel lacking when compared to The Power of the Dog. Rather, it depends on the type of movies they are: while The Power of the Dog is more focused on characters and their developments, sometimes leaving the story in the background, Doctor Strange must focus on both, as the furthering of the story is unquestionably linked to the development of the characters. Strange might be tormented at first, but by the end of the movie, he needs to be easily classified as either a hero or a villain, otherwise, there would be no reason for his story to be told in the MCU. Cumberbatch’s appearances as Doctor Strange in other MCU movies highlight his wastefulness: in any of them, he is often used as a magical gimmick that solves problems, some kind of sorcerous deus-ex-machina. The only other MCU product that highlighted his level of skill was What If…?, where, although only Cumberbatch’s voice was heard, Strange’s loops where he tried to save Christine helped show his range.
Contrarily to Stephen Strange, Cumberbatch’s Phil Burbank is cruel and anguished, as seen in his mannerism. Cumberbatch is so convincing in his role that any time he enters the ranch house and Rose is in the scene, flinching cannot be helped. A different, less domineering side of him is shown in The Power of the Dog exclusively when Phil talks about his late mentor, Bronco Henry, and in those moments, only affection and reverence can be heard in his voice. A similarly gentle side can also be seen when he teaches Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) ranch-related things. Phil is tragically unable to present himself to others in the way he truly is, hiding instead behind his toxic masculinity, and the rare times he seems less pained and more at ease in the world make him a more believable character albeit a less-easily categorizable one.
Cumberbatch will reprise his role as Doctor Strange in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Still, after such a critically-acclaimed performance in The Power of the Dog, one cannot avoid thinking the MCU might have wasted him, not because he is not good as Doctor Strange, but for how much better he can be when he handles more complicated characters. The Power of the Dog was released in select theatres on November 19, and it is now available to stream on Netflix.