# What is the best Benedict Cumberbatch performance of all time?

> Whether playing a cold genius, a wounded romantic, or a supernatural guardian of the universe, the depth and range here is hard to argue with. Which performance stands alone?

*By YPB Team · Published April 10, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-benedict-cumberbatch-performance-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Sherlock**
   The BBC hit series (2010-2017) in which Cumberbatch's hyper-rational, sardonic Sherlock Holmes became a global phenomenon.
2. **The Imitation Game**
   The 2014 biopic in which Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing, the genius mathematician who cracked the Enigma code during WWII.
3. **The Power of the Dog**
   The 2021 Jane Campion psychological Western in which Cumberbatch delivers a riveting portrayal of a repressed Montana rancher.
4. **Doctor Strange**
   The 2016 Marvel origin story in which Cumberbatch plays a brilliant but arrogant surgeon who becomes the Sorcerer Supreme.
5. **Patrick Melrose**
   The 2018 Sky Atlantic miniseries in which Cumberbatch gives a harrowing portrayal of a British aristocrat battling addiction and childhood trauma.
6. **12 Years a Slave**
   The 2013 Steve McQueen historical drama in which Cumberbatch plays William Ford, a slaveholder with a tormented conscience.
7. **Star Trek Into Darkness**
   The 2013 J.J. Abrams sci-fi sequel in which Cumberbatch plays the ruthless superhuman terrorist revealed to be Khan.
8. **The Courier**
   The 2020 Cold War spy thriller in which Cumberbatch plays Greville Wynne, an ordinary British businessman who became an unlikely CIA spy.
9. **Avengers: Infinity War**
   The 2018 Marvel crossover in which Doctor Strange faces the impossible choice of saving the universe from Thanos.
10. **The Electrical Life of Louis Wain**
   The 2021 biographical film in which Cumberbatch plays Louis Wain, the eccentric artist famous for his whimsical cat illustrations.
11. **August: Osage County**
   The 2013 ensemble drama in which Cumberbatch plays the troubled Little Charles Aiken amid a dysfunctional Oklahoma family reunion.
12. **Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness**
   The 2022 Marvel horror-tinged sequel in which Strange navigates parallel universes to confront evil versions of himself.
13. **1917**
   The 2019 Sam Mendes single-take WWI epic in which Cumberbatch plays General Erinmore, who dispatches two soldiers on a critical mission.
14. **Atonement**
   The 2007 Joe Wright period drama in which Cumberbatch plays Paul Marshall, a wealthy chocolate heir with menacing intentions.

Tags: movies, actors, benedict cumberbatch, performances, british