BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH has a lot to look forward to in 2016. Chief among them is the production of his upcoming Marvel film, “Dr. Strange,” which is set to hit theaters Nov. 4, 2016.

    This week, Entertainment Weekly revealed the first photo of Cumberbatch in his Doctor Stephen Strange costume.

    Cumberbatch, 39, told the magazine that he’s still learning how to play the superhero sorcerer. The movie, which co-stars Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Chiewetel Ejiofor and Mads Mikkelsen, will wrap filming in March.

    “I’ve got to keep throwing these poses, these spells, these rune-casting things, everything he does physically,” Cumberbatch said of the photoshoot. “There’s going to be a huge amount of speculation and intrigue over the positioning of that finger as opposed to it being there, or there. And I’m still working on that. We haven’t played any of those scenes yet. I felt really self-conscious. But, then, by the end, it was great. It’s like anything, you just have to experiment.”

    Director Scott Derrickson revealed the movie will play heavily on the psychedelic visuals with which artist Steve Ditko infused the comic book during its 1960s heyday.

    “I was always interested in the extreme mind-bending visuals of the comics,” he told the magazine. “I had very ambitious [sic] for the visuals, which were rooted in the comics, that movies haven’t done yet. And a lot of that goes back to the Ditko artwork and all that 1960s craziness you see in the comics.”

    “Doctor Strange” will mark Cumberbatch’s debut lead role in a big-budget Hollywood production.

    Entertainment Weekly also revealed that Mikkelsen will play the film’s main villain, described as a sorcerer who breaks off into his own sect. McAdams will portray a young woman who helps anchor Strange’s humanity once he transforms into the sorcerous superhero.

    Swinton was announced in the gender-swapped role of the Ancient One.

    (SD-Agencies)