If you noticed a slight dimensional warping in the SW1 area of London last night, no need to be alarmed: it was just the Marvel gang in town, astrally projected themselves onto the red carpet for a glitzy Doctor Strange UK premiere in the hallowed halls of Westminster Abbey.
The good doctor himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, was among the many stars lining the red carpet, where he spoke giddily about slipping into that cape for the first time. “The first costume fitting, I stopped and smiled in the mirror,” Cumberbatch said. “The costume designer went, ‘I’ve seen that look before. You’re having a superhero moment’.”
Rachel McAdams, who plays fellow surgeon Christine Palmer, called Cumberbatch the “perfect choice” for the role, admitting that “it’s such a lot of pressure to take on a character that people have loved since the ‘60s.”
Meanwhile, Tilda Swinton – aka the slap-headed Ancient One – addressed the minor controversy that swirled around her casting. “There was a misunderstanding that I had been cast as an Asian person,” she explained. “What happened was that [director] Scott Derrickson and [producer] Kevin Feige did not want to perpetuate a rather noxious stereotype in the comic strip from the ‘60s about an old Asian guy handing down wisdom to a white hero. They also wanted to bring a woman Sorcerer Supreme to the multiverse.”
Doctor Strange arrives in UK cinemas today, ahead of a 4 November US release. Keep your eyes – or more appropriately, ears – peeled for a special Empire Podcast spoiler special next week, and read Empire’s four-star review right here.