Benedict Cumberbatch has played many iconic characters in his career. Be it his breakthrough role of playing Sherlock Holmes in BBC’s Sherlock or voicing Smaug in The Hobbit franchise, Cumberbatch has brought his absolute best to each role. He has been playing the role of Doctor Strange in the MCU since 2016 and has been featured as the character in multiple films.
However, the Sorcerer Supreme was not the first role that he was offered in the Marvel franchise. While Strange met the Asgardian brothers Thor and Loki in Thor: Ragnarok, Cumberbatch would have met them even earlier had he accepted the initial part offered to him by the studio. However, he chose to wait it out instead.
Benedict Cumberbatch Rejected The Role Of Malekith In The MCU
While no one else other than Benedict Cumberbatch can be imagined to suit the role of Stephen Strange now, many other actors were reportedly considered for the role. The MCU has always prided itself on casting the right talents for the right role and has the eye to spot them for other upcoming characters in the franchise.
Hence, while actors such as Jake Gyllenhaal and Ethan Hawke were first considered for the role of Doctor Strange, they were eventually offered other important characters in the franchise (via EW). Before Cumberbatch was officially hired as the Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange, he was reportedly offered another role in the MCU.
Benedict Cumberbatch revealed this trivia while on the BBC Radio One interview with Ali Plumb that he was offered the role of Malekith the Accursed in Thor: The Dark World. However, the actor did not want to go for another villainous role after starring as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness. So, he decided to wait for something better,
“I’m really flattered to be invited to the party but I’d rather hold out for something a bit more juicy…I really wasn’t part of the conversation until it came back to me through [representatives] that they were interested.”
Though Benedict Cumberbatch was still apprehensive about playing Doctor Strange as in the comics he was an old-school man and described him as a misogynist, he was convinced by Marvel that the film would be depicting him as a man of today.
Malekith The Accursed Was Butchered In Thor: The Dark World
While Benedict Cumberbatch enjoyed the fruit of his patience by being cast as Doctor Strange, had he jumped the gun and accepted the role of Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, he would have certainly regretted it. The character is one of the most revered villains in the comics, he was included in one of the lowest-rated MCU films before its downfall.
In Thor: The Dark World, Malekith the Accursed is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston, who is known for playing the ninth Doctor in Doctor Who. Malekith is defeated and banished by Odin’s father Bor eons before the present and waits in slumber to find the Aether. Once the Aether is activated, he awakens to travel across to find it and become omnipotent.
The film was widely received negatively with many criticizing a lack of personality in the film and mentioning that it felt like a corporate entity had made it instead of one director. Eccleston was excited about the depth of the character and his motivations, however, director Alan Taylor mentioned that much of his backstory was cut due to runtime (via Mandatory),
“I think it’s always the case with these big movies that happen, and it’s painful to me because I absolutely love, love, love, love a lot of the stuff that fell by the wayside. Some of it was Malekith. You saw a lot more into the relationship between him and Algrim. You saw a lot more of what was driving him personally. And as I mentioned already there was a lot more with the kids, you saw them explore these fantastical events that were going on.”
In the film, Malekith is crushed by his own ship in his homeworld of Svartalfheim, and dies at the end of Thor: The Dark World. The character has not been seen in the MCU since. Hence, it was so much better for Benedict Cumberbatch to hold on for a prolonged role.
