The Bubble: Benedict Cumberbatch’s CGI Cameo Explained
WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Bubble!
While Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t physically appear in The Bubble, the Oscar-nominated actor makes a triumphant cameo through CGI technology. With how technology quickly is advancing, it’s both incredible and disturbing to imagine how CGI will continue to change the field of acting, particularly in replicating one’s likeness. Preceded by young Mark Hamill being deep-faked into The Mandalorian and a deceased Peter Cushing being resurrected into Star Wars via CGI, The Bubble’s Benedict Cumberbatch cameo is continuing an odd Hollywood trend in which an actor doesn’t have to be present in order to appear in a film.
Interestingly, Benedict Cumberbatch isn’t the only celebrity cameo in The Bubble accomplished virtually, as John Cena briefly appears solely through a Zoom call. Similarly, Daisy Ridley’s cameo is accomplished through CGI and green screens, as she primarily appears as a virtual workout trainer with whom Pedro Pascal’s The Bubble character hallucinates having relations. However, John Cena and Daisy Ridley had to physically act in their roles solely as themselves, which wasn’t the case for Benedict Cumberbatch’s completely deep-faked appearance.
Although the MCU actor’s cameo was already spoiled in The Bubble’s trailer, the circumstances for his appearance are even more disturbing in the actual movie. Toward the end of Judd Apatow’s 2022 movie, the cast of The Bubble’s fictional film Cliff Beasts 6 decide to spend one of their last nights together getting high. As the drugs kick in, The Bubble was able to play with some disturbing CGI and deep-faking technology, which took a strange turn once the characters hallucinated that Gunther, the English health officer, had the face of Benedict Cumberbatch. With Gunther’s body and voice, The Bubble’s bizarre Benedict Cumberbatch cameo even saw the intoxicated characters telling Gunther to “stop being Benedict Cumberbatch” because of how accurate it was.
Of course, for The Bubble to get in another reference to a popular modern franchise, Gunther states that he’s “Doctor Strange” while still in the CGI face. After another moment, Benedict Cumberbatch’s CGI cameo is gone, with The Bubble’s characters then hallucinating that every person has the CGI face of Krystal (Iris Apatow) instead. Sadly, The Bubble wasn’t able to bring in the real Benedict Cumberbatch for an apt cameo at the end of the movie as they did with James McAvoy, whose appearance similarly included a reference to his Marvel franchise character.
The inclusion of Benedict Cumberbatch for Netflix’s franchise satire movie isn’t surprising, as the MCU actor had also recently been nominated for an Oscar for his role in Netflix’s own The Power of the Dog. While the drug-induced Benedict Cumberbatch hallucination is one of the best scenes in The Bubble, it still would have been great to see the actual actor appear as himself, perhaps in similar circumstances to the James McAvoy cameo. Cumberbatch has also yet to comment on the inclusion of his likeness in The Bubble, but if Netflix ever requests The Bubble 2 movie, the actor may be able to make a real cameo.
Source: Screenrant
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