10) A Broken Man – Doctor Strange
Let’s start with Benedict’s most recent role. Marvel Studios were so desperate to get the actor to play Doctor Stephen Strange in the 2016 movie that they set the release date back by several months to allow him to work through a scheduling conflict. Their faith in him was well-founded, too, as Cumberbatch’s turn as the arrogant ex-surgeon was praised by critics everywhere – even if his New Yorker accent is a little shaky at times.
While he was obviously a natural at playing another super-genius, his finest bit of acting in Doctor Strange probably occurs during the scenes after Strange’s debilitating accident that costs him the use of his hands. Cumberbatch brilliantly plays a man on the edge of a breakdown, stripped of the thing that defined who he was – a top-flight neurosurgeon. The lows of these scenes make it all the more fulfilling when Strange overcomes his disability and learns the mystic arts over the course of the movie.
There’s a point to be made that, on the page, Stephen’s character arc is similar to previous Marvel heroes like Iron Man, but Cumberbatch carved out the part as his own and now we can’t wait for him to return in the upcoming threequel Thor: Ragnarok.
