Benedict Cumberbatch pops into store dressed as Doctor Strange

Benedict Cumberbatch surprised thrilled customers at a comic book store while dressed as Marvel superhero Doctor Strange.

Cumberbatch, 39, popped into the JHU Comic Books dressed as sorcerer Doctor Stephen Strange (03Apr16) after he had finishing filming scenes nearby in New York on Sunday (03Apr16).

The store's manager Rene Rosa said staff and customers were shocked and delighted when the actor made the surprise visit with his film crew in tow.

"He said he came specifically to see us since it would ridiculous not to visit a comic book store, because he was filming nearby," she told The New York Daily News.

With his quiffed hair and red cape, Cumberbatch stars as neurosurgeon Stephen Strange whose life is changed forever following a car accident ,which sets him on a path of mystic healing and sorcery against the forces of evil.

The star spent five minutes posing for photographs with the lucky members of the public who happened to be in the right place at the right time and afterwards appeared in good spirits as he left the store with some Doctor Strange merchandise he'd bought.

"There were only about five or six people in the store, but everyone went crazy when they saw him," Rosa said.

"One lady screamed at her boyfriend, 'Did you see what just happened?' But he was in the back looking at comics, not paying attention."

Speaking last year (Dec15) about his latest role, the actor admitted he wanted to get the details right for pedantic comic book fans. "I’m still in the infancy of learning all that... I’ve got to keep throwing these poses, these spells, these rune-casting things, everything he does physically.

Meanwhile Studiocanal, the French film company, has bought a 20 percent stake in the star's production company Sunny March TV. According to The Hollywood Reporter (04Apr16) they are already working together on the WWII biopic The War Magician, in which Cumberbatch is set to star as a magician, whose illusions helped the British fight against the Nazis during World War II.

Doctor Strange is due to open in the U.K. on October 28 (16) and 04 November (16) in the U.S.