Benedict Cumberbatch plays both the hero and the villain in 'Doctor Strange' but you would never know it
Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Doctor Strange."
Benedict Cumberbatch may be starring as the hero in Marvel's latest superhero movie "Doctor Strange," but it's not the only role he had a part in playing.
Pay extra attention to the movie's villain. We're not talking about Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen). You'll want to keep your eye on the other-worldly Dormammu, another iconic Strange villain summoned by Kaecilius from another dimension near the movie's end.
Director Scott Derrickson recently told IGN that Cumberbatch also had a role in bringing the film's villain to life.
"Benedict did the facial capture for it," said Derrickson.
Why let Cumberbatch also partially play the movie's big villain?
Derrickson said the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
"No one understood Dormammu better than Benedict did," said Derrickson, who added that he wrote the role of Dormammu as an "ultra-inflated version" of Strange.
"He [Dormammu] is an ego run amok; he is this cosmic conqueror where everything, where literally everything in the multi-verse is about him," said Derrickson. "There's something interesting about this confrontation of this little, tiny guy who has this power of time and this monstrous conqueror who is trapped by a clever gambit. There's something about that worked well, and I didn't think anybody to interact with Benedict than he, himself."
While Cumberbatch lent his face to the character, Derrickson said it was another British actor who filled in for the voice of Dormammu.
Cumberbatch wouldn't be the first actor to play multiple roles in a film or both the hero and villain. Leonardo DiCaprio famously played both the protagonist and antagonist in "The Man in the Iron Mask." The difference with Cumberbatch's dual role is that it's one you would never expect or know from just watching the film.