‘Grossly Wasteful’ Doctor Strange Star Exposes MCU Projects’ Bad Habits That’s Damaging to the Industry

Doctor Strange star and veteran actor from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Benedict Cumberbatch, has recently revealed a troubling issue happening behind the scenes in several of Marvel’s live-action projects. The superhero film franchise bringing iconic Marvel comic book characters to life on the small and silver screen began back in 2008 with Iron Man. The series produced five phases filled with blockbuster films, crossover ensemble features, and Disney Plus series, and fans are preparing to welcome Phase Six after Thunderbolts* concluded the fifth.

Cumberbatch stated Doctor Strange would not be in Avengers: Doomsday at the start of the year, but later backtracked, admitting he was misled by Jonathan Majors’ departure from the role of Kang the Conqueror. This statement resurfaced when the sorcerer was missing from the Doomsday cast reveal, which was also notably without Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, and Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight. Speculation suggests there will be another wave of Doomsday castings revealed in due course, and unless several of these popular characters are held back to appear in Doctor Strange 3, estimated to be released in 2027 or 2028, fans expect Stephen Strange to be included.

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Benedict Cumberbatch Addresses Wasted Resources From MCU Projects

Speaking on the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast, Cumberbatch was asked to discuss his recent gig in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, and also touched on his lengthy service within the MCU, where there’s one ongoing issue the actor would like to see improve. Cumberbatch noted the industry was “grossly wasteful,” and recalled a few instances on the set of Doctor Strange and other MCU projects where waste was a problem. The actor highlighted, “set builds that aren’t recycled, think about transport, think about food, think about housing, but also light and energy,” and this topic extended to catering as well, where Cumberbatch would be given a hearty diet for the role. “‘What am I doing? I could feed a family with the amount I’m eating,’” Cumberbatch continued. The actor’s influence on set has been reported prior, when Cumberbatch rewrote key Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness scenes that required the material to go darker, illustrating his keenness to get involved.

Despite the character’s Doomsday role being uncertain for now, Cumberbatch was fairly certain Doctor Strange would play a major part in Avengers: Secret Wars. The plot of this ensemble title could go one of two ways: following the original 1984 Secret Wars comic that saw several Marvel heroes and villains arrive in Battleworld ruled by the cosmic entity, the Beyonder. Or, a more critically and well-received version of Secret Wars that came out in 2015, which saw Earth-616 collide with the Ultimate Marvel Universe, where Doctor Doom absorbs the Beyonder’s power to create a new Battleworld.

The most recent MCU project on fans’ radar at the moment, however, is the arrival of Marvel’s first family, and the first reviews for The Fantastic Four: First Steps are in. Starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn, First Steps will introduce the superpowered foursome into the MCU canon, and the team is expected to become one of the next main ensembles within the live-action universe going forward, alongside The New Avengers (revealed in Thunderbolts*) and the highly anticipated X-Men reboot.