Here’s A First Look At Benedict Cumberbatch And His Beard On The Set Of ‘Doctor Strange’

Marvel’s Doctor Strange opens one year from today, and filming is currently underway in Nepal. Prayush Khadka was able to snap a distant photo of a bearded Benedict Cumberbatch on set, presumably in a scene before he begins his mystical training at Kamar-Taj with the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). He’s certainly not in his final form here, as we’ve already heard a little more about the “Escher stuff” that’s going into his full Doctor Strange look.

Along with the start of filming comes a couple more casting confirmations. As rumored, Mads Mikkelsen has joined the film in an unnamed role. Michael Stuhlbarg is another recent addition; he’ll be playing Dr. Nicodemus West. In the comics, West performed the surgery on Stephen Strange’s hands, saving his hands, but causing nerve damage. West tracks Strange to Kamar-Taj, but Strange has already left, so West starts training in the mystic arts himself. He leaves before his training is complete, which (let’s just say) is a bad idea.

Anyway, apologies on not yet having any close-ups of Cumberbatch on set. Perhaps everyone was too busy trying to teach him how to pronounce the word penguin.

(Via Prayush Khadka, CBM, Unreality, and The Playlist)