Benedict Cumberbatch Joins 'Spider-Man 3' In Mentor Role Previously Occupied By Robert Downey Jr

Benedict Cumberbatch is joining "Spider-Man 3" and he will be taking over Robert Downey Jr.'s previous role — a father figure and mentor to Tom Holland's Peter Parker.

The "Doctor Strange" star will appear in Holland's upcoming "Spider-Man" movie and he will be playing an important role in the film. He will have a closer relationship to the titular superhero, The Hollywood Reporter first revealed.

The outlet noted that the role was previously played by Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark/Iron Man and Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury. The latter will reprise his role, but Downey Jr. is not coming back for another Marvel movie after his character died in "Avengers: Endgame." The addition of Cumberbatch gives Holland the opportunity to play opposite seasoned actors and gives Peter Parker a father figure.

Stark played an important role in Parker's life because he was the one who discovered him and designed his suit. In fact, when Parker went missing with the rest of the superheroes except the original Avengers, the genius billionaire was heartbroken and it was the first news he told Steve Rogers a.k.a Captain America (Chris Evans).

"I lost the kid," Stark told Rogers in "Avengers: Endgame."

When Stark and Parker reunited, the former hugged the latter. "This is nice," Parker said when they embraced.

But Stark sacrificed himself to save the world in “Endgame.” Iron Man died and his death left a huge void in Parker’s life. Stark’s influence on Parker was evident in “Spider-Man: Far from Home” as Parker was shown still hurting and missing the first Avenger he met.

"I just really miss him," Parker said in one scene referring to Stark.

"Everywhere I go, I see his face. And the whole world is asking who's gonna be the next Iron Man and I don't know if that's me Happy. I'm not Iron Man."

Happy (Jon Favreau) agreed with Parker that he could never be Iron Man and comforted him by saying that his late best friend was also a mess just like Parker. Stark second guessed almost everything he did and the one thing he did that he didn’t second guess was picking Parker.

Cumberbatch’s addition to “Spider-Man” as Parker’s father figure and mentor will be a huge boost to the morale of the young superhero, who is still grieving Iron Man’s death.

“Spider-Man 3” will be coming to cinemas on Dec. 17, 2021.