As Comic-Con warms up this week, geek favorite Benedict Cumberbatch has made his first appearance at the event. But not to promote the new Hobbit movie, or to talk about Sherlock or Star Trek, but rather to help promote DreamWorks Animation's The Penguins of Madagascar, which he provides his voice to for a wolf named Classifed.

But, before he even set foot in San Diego, rumors were spreading that Cumberbatch had a bigger purpose at the Con. Specifically, that he would also be there as Marvel makes the announcement that he is their Doctor Strange. But Cumberbatch has put those rumors to rest by revealing that, not only is that not in his calendar, but he probably isn't even able to play the part, even if he wanted.

When asked by MTV if there was an validity to these rumors, Cumberbatch had the following to say.

“As far as I’m aware, even if that was the case, it couldn’t work out because I’m doing a little play called Hamlet in London,” he said. “So I don’t think I could even if that was in the cards. It sounds like a fantastic project. It’s a shame if I miss out, but who knows?”

He suggests later that he has at least talked with Marvel about playing the part, but it doesn't look like he is going to play the part. Then again, these comments don't outright dismiss any interest in playing the soon-to-be-seen-on-the-big-screen superhero. Just that he thinks that the possibility of playing both the character of Doctor Strange while he is the middle of performing Hamlet in London seem doubtful.

Nevertheless, Comic-Con is far from over at this point, so more updates will become available in due time most likely. For now, however, Cumberbatch just seems to be enjoying his time with his fans as he promotes his upcoming animated movie.

MTV also has a video of his responses above.

Image courtesy of ACE/INFphoto.com