Spider-Man: No Way Home is no longer a secret. All of the surprises, cameos, details, and moments from the massively succesful film came to light when it was released in December. Three months later, the cast and crew are talking more about the making of the movie ahead of its digital release on March 15. While a lot of attention is still on Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s appearances as their respective Spider-Men, Benedict Cumberbatch has has plenty to say with respect to his experience on set and Doctor Strange’s role in the film.
In an interview with Collider, Cumberbatch revealed that he improvised one of Doctor Strange’s most memorable moments and one of the film’s most emotional. While praising director Jon Watts’ ability to adapt, the actor described how he decided to alter the scene where Peter Parker chooses to have the world forget him:
There was this one moment near the end of the film, where we were really trying to make that moment work, at the top of the Statue of Liberty. Tom [Holland] was having a tough time with the script, as it was before the reshoots. And then, we did the reshoots and I came up with this idea of, to show that I love him, I didn’t want him to make the sacrifice of being forgotten. He was like, ‘That’s gonna be in the film.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, cool. That’s great.’
Benedict Cumberbatch
The moment in No Way Home that Cumberbatch describes is a memorable one. While Doctor Strange spent much of the film as a somewhat stoic mentor or helping hand, the moment where he shows a sense of loss at the thought of forgetting Peter highlights the emotional tone of the ambitious movie and makes Peter’s decision all that more impactful. Cumberbatch also revealed that his interest in improvising was influenced by his time on the set of Avengers: Infinity War:
You throw yourself out there in those huge sand pits. The remarkable thing I learned from Tom Holland and RDJ on Infinity War was seeing how at ease he was, just in improvising about Aunt May with Robert Downey Jr. He did this thing which wasn’t scripted at all. I’m quite a canon guy. It’s about the text for me. To be free with that and to have some maneuverability in it and to be able to improvise, and on such a large canvas, was a real eye-opener.
Benedict Cumberbatch
Fans can refresh their own memories of No Way Home when it makes its digital release on March 15. Audiences can also look forward to seeing more of Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters May 6, 2022.
Source: Collider via The Direct
