Benedict Cumberbatch: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

2. Stephen Strange - Doctor Strange (2016)

There's a good reason Kevin Feige was so keen to get his first choice into Doctor Strange's cape, and it is perfectly sold in his performance as the talisman of the cosmic arm of the MCU. He is the perfect blend of aloof, arrogant and exotic, and there is a brilliant sort of otherness to him that has been so successful in his other most famous role to date (more of which soon).

Cumberbatch's Strange is the heir apparent to Robert Downey Jr's crown as the leader of the MCU, and he has clearly been asked to unblur the distinction between the characters on purpose. His Strange is a posturing, detached playboy with a penchant for fast cars and worldly commodities, and difficulty forming relationships, just like Stark. In this early stage, he is almost unlikeable BUT he pulls it back as RDJ did with a cheeky, disarming charm and a pleasant quirkiness that kept even his worst moments crossing the line too far.

And then as he changes over the course of his arc, the transformation is entirely sympathetic - we believe his reluctance to drop his egotism just as much as his final revelation, and his final emergence from that progressive cocoon marks the introduction of one of the MCU's immediately most compelling characters.