Benedict Cumberbatch says Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland's improv skills inspired him to go off-script and call Iron Man a 'douchebag' in 'Infinity War'
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Olivia Singh
Sep 9, 2021, 16:57 IST
On the left: Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr. in "Avengers: Infinity War." On the right: Benedict Cumberbatch in the same film.
Disney/Marvel
Benedict Cumberbatch told The Hollywood Reporter he improvised a line in "Avengers: Infinity War."
The actor went off-script when his character, Doctor Strange, called Tony Stark a "douchebag."
Cumberbatch said he was inspired by his costars Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland's improv skills.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cumberbatch recalled working with Downey (Tony Stark/Iron Man) and Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) for the 2018 blockbuster Marvelmovie. Seeing Downey and Holland go off-script while filming inspired Cumberbatch to follow suit during a scene that appeared early in the movie.
While at the Sanctum Sanctorum, Dr. Stephen Strange and Tony squabbled about how to prevent the antagonist Thanos (Josh Brolin) from acquiring all six Infinity Stones. After Doctor Strange said it's up to them to do their jobs, Tony made fun of his sorcery skills and retorted: "What exactly is your job, besides making balloon animals?"
In response, Doctor Strange said, "It's protecting your reality, douchebag."
"I remember on the set when I called him a douchebag, there was this sort of ripple effect: 'Oh my God. Did you just call Iron Man a douchebag?'" Cumberbatch told THR. "They kept it, good for them. And then, it got the same kind of response at the cinema."
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The Oscar-nominated actor said the improvised jab arose because he "got bored of being compared to Liberace or whatever other retorts the guy with the same camp goatee had opposite me, so I tried to knock him down."
He added: "It's great fun to play with that stuff. You find your feet. The more times you do it, the more familiar it becomes."
During the scene when Peter began turning to dust because of Thanos' snap, the webslinger told Tony he "didn't feel so good" and repeated the line, "I don't want to go."
Holland told Fox 5's Kevin McCarthy that it was "improvised to a degree" and that "the scene was never meant to be as dramatic as it was."
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"We improvised a version of the scene which wasn't great, but it sparked an idea of, 'We should have this embrace and I should turn to dust while he's holding me,'" the actor said.
Marvel Studios' president, Kevin Feige, later praised Holland for "keeping up with him off book to some very funny ad-libs."
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Tony's storyline in the MCU has run its course, but Holland and Cumberbatch will reunite for the third "Spider-Man" installment, titled "No Way Home," set for release on December 17.
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