From Peter Quill’s failure to keep his cool, to Thor’s missed opportunity to go for the head, Avengers: Infinity War is famously packed with characters making mistakes that would ultimately lead to half the universe getting killed. After things went so wrong for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, it’s likely that the survivors have regrets to spare, but actor Benedict Cumberbatch is just upset that he didn’t get to see the looks on all our faces as we watched these characters literally fall apart before our eyes.
In an interview with Uproxx, the Doctor Strange star recalled how he took a break from matters of the MCU in the wake of the Infinity War press tour. In retrospect, however, Cumberbatch wishes he’d been there to see the trauma he helped inflict on audiences:
“This is my biggest regret of that whole time is that I didn’t sneak in to see people’s reaction. And I wish I had. I really do. I really wish I’d done that. And I think it was such a long press tour, by the time my family got me home I was well and truly on holiday and with them. Or was I working? Geez, I can’t even remember anymore. I think I had a tiny break and then I was riding into doing a TV drama about Brexit.
“But yeah, it’s my biggest regret of that whole experience. And there aren’t that many regrets, because it was a wild ride. I mean, just selling that movie by not being able to say anything. But the places we got to go – and it was very cool. I know other people who did it. I think Tom Holland did it. I know Mark Ruffalo took his children, because he then FaceTimed us from the cinema.”
The actor also went on to recall the chaos that his co-star Mark Ruffalo recorded from the screening:
“His teenage children’s friends are running in the aisles going, “No, what’s happening!?!?” The universe had crashed around him, which is really cruel, but kind of really enjoyable. Do you know what I mean? It’s just great that storytelling in tentpole film of a franchise can have that kind of an impact and kind of a visceral reaction.”
While it may seem a little sadistic that Cumberbatch is so proud of how many people his movie has upset, there’s no denying that ‘The Snappening’ had its desired effect of leaving audiences shaken and itching to see how next year’s Avengers 4 will resolve this cliffhanger.
Speaking of which, while Cumberbatch is refusing to clarify whether he’ll be returning in the Avengers: Infinity War sequel, it doesn’t take a Stephen Strange to foresee that the Sorcerer Supreme is part of the MCU’s future, with Doctor Strange 2 already confirmed to be on the way. With this in mind, you can expect to witness the character’s un-dusting when Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3rd, 2019.
