Filming on Doctor Strange has begun, for a film due out in just under a year.
And so to jump-start this awareness campaign, we see Cumberbatch topped by grey-flecked locks, and beneath the Strange's signature whiskers.
We see the red cape, which suggests this Doc will often be aloft.
We also get a special-effects peek at what Strange's powers will look like in action - though all we have now is an extended hand, which only slightly suggests spell-casting finger motions to come.
It was as recently as 2008, of course, that Hollywood relied on Robert Downey Jr.'s own star wattage - as well as his Stark-perfect real-life troubled biography - to introduce a Marvel character little known by non-comics fans.
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After that, such popular characters as Thor and Captain America had high-enough recognition not to require the casting of established A-listers.
This year, after the Age of Ultron phase, Marvel began turning to well-known talents like Paul Rudd to draw general audiences to come befriend characters like Ant-Man.
So as Cumberbatch moves front and center as the Sorcerer Supreme, we can expect his "Strange" co-stars - such as Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mads Mikkelsen - to begin emerging from the publicity shadows.
If the next phase is going to keep Marvel's uncanny streak of hits alive, after all, the general filmgoer must begin putting a familiar, high-flying face to an under-the-radar name.
People took to Twitter to share their excitement over the sneak peak of Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange.
-Washington Post
