8 Ways In Which Doctor Strange Connects To The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Now that it's 14 films in - with five TV shows currently out there as well - each entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is seeped in references and nods to other corners of this massive shared cosmos. Even Doctor Strange, which is mostly content to build up its own mythology, has some significant and quickfire connections to the wider MCU. From foreshadowing of the mythos that occurred before the movie came out to links to other characters and concepts within the film, here are eight bits and pieces that connect Doctor Strange to the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It should go without saying, but spoilers will definitely follow.... 8) Namedrop In Captain America: The Winter Soldier The first direct name check of the Sorcerer Supreme in the MCU occurred in 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Looking back at it now, however, it raises a lot of questions about the timeline of Doctor Strange. When Cap and Black Widow are questioning S.H.I.E.L.D. turncoat/secret HYDRA member Jasper Sitwell about Project Insight, he explains that it uses Armin Zola's algorithm to single out those who will be a threat to HYDRA in the future - including a bunch of nameless people, Bruce Banner and Stephen Strange. This mention raises questions as, though the time frame of Doctor Strange isn't outright stated, we assume Strange didn't get his powers until after the events of this movie. That said, there is some speculation over how long Strange spends training in Kamar-Taj. Could he have just started his mystical apprenticeship around the time of Winter Soldier? Probably not. Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige has a different explanation for why the algorithm predicts that Strange will be a threat. And since he's the guy in charge, what he says goes. "So is Stephen Strange the Sorcerer Supreme ? Probably not at that point. Is he an unbelievably talented neurosurgeon who’s opinionated and kind of arrogant? Probably. That might put him on the list." In other words, it was just a cool easter egg and not something to be analyzed too much. 7) The Avengers Tower One of the easiest ways to remind viewers that all of these movies are connected is to show the Avengers tower in the skyline of New York City. Strangely, this is something that's often forgotten about in the Netflix series (where the real MetLife Building is seen in its place), but this is likely just due to the additional costs it would take to CG the tower in. The tower is present and correct in Doctor Strange, though. It can be initially seen in the first shots of New York in the movie (after the opening scene in London) and then again in the mind-bending, reality-warping battle later on in the film. It's easy to miss on both occasions but trust us, it's there. Despite the tower not currently operating as the base of the Avengers team (they moved to an old Stark Industries warehouse on the outskirts of the city at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron), it's nice to see it back in the movies all the same. It's a much more instantly recognizable HQ for the team than the new compound, so we fully expect it to return to its old role in future films - perhaps once the group have knitted back together again after defeating Thanos. By that point, we would think that Doctor Strange will be joining them in the tower as a fully-fledged member of the Avengers. 6) War Machine, Is That You? The accident that causes Strange to sever the nerves in his hands - leading him to find a cure for his condition which in turn leads him to the Ancient One and the Mystic Arts - is pretty much all his fault. As he speeds along in his Lamborghini, Strange is talking to an assistant about what case he should take next. After turning down old ladies and really sick folk to ensure his reputation, one patient catches his attention. An Air Force colonel who has had his spine crushed by test piloting an experimental suit of armour. The character this immediately brings to mind is, of course, Tony Stark's best bud Rhodey AKA War Machine. He's also a colonel, an Air Force pilot and he recently (and temporarily) lost the use of his legs in his War Machine suit while fighting Team Cap in Captain America: Civil War. It's just got to be him, right? Well, actually, director Scott Derrickson has confirmed that Rhodey is not the subject in question here. The only other option, then, goes all the way back to Iron Man 2. In one scene, Rhodey (him again) shows the US Senate footage of Justin Hammer's tests to recreate the Iron Man armour. It doesn't go well and the unfortunate pilot has his back busted by a technical malfunction. This is a very obscure link to the rest of the MCU, but it's still nice to think that the filmmakers take such care in creating connective tissue between their movies. 5) Black Mamba Another of these respective patients that is mentioned to Strange is a young woman with a brain implant who has been struck by lightning. If you thought this sounds like such a comic book-y scenario that it has to be a reference to some Marvel character, then you may well be right. A few individuals in the Marvel comics universe have enhancing brain implants, but given that this one is also a young woman, the best bet for who this is referring to is Black Mamba. We're not sure Black Mamba is big enough to make the jump from the page to the big screen, so we imagine this is just a fun nod for hardcore fans to note rather than a hint at a future appearance (like Strange's name check in The Winter Soldier). On the other hand, we could be wrong. She could turn up as a member of the Serpent Society in a future Captain America movie perhaps? Real name Tanya Sealy, Black Mamba is a supervillain and member of the aforementioned group of snake-themed villains (including The Wolverine's Viper and Luke Cage's Diamondback) as well as Baron Zemo's Masters of Evil. Given her implant by the Roxxon Corporation - who have appeared and been referenced in numerous MCU properties - she has telepathic abilities and the power to ensnare her victims with Darkforce. Speaking of which... 4) Darkforce The most prominent bit of foreshadowing for Doctor Strange came courtesy of two of Marvel's TV series - which played with a concept that would eventually find a place in the moviel: A deadly black gloop called Darkforce. It first appeared in two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first season, as the team went after Blackout - a supervillain with the ability to control the stuff. Darkforce - although it was now called Zero Matter - later played a much more prominent role in Agent Carter's second season, appearing as the major macguffin. After a volatile extraterrestrial substance arrives on Earth via a inter dimensional portal, Peggy and the SSR have to stop actress-cum-genius scientist Whitney Frost from using it to gain unstoppable power. The reason it was being used in the show, said the exec producers, was because it would directly link into Doctor Strange - where Darkforce would play a major role. As it turns out, the element's role in the movie was much less important than we had been led to believe. It's never called by name for one and doesn't appear in the form familiar from the TV outings. There is a dark substance seen in Dormammu's world, but that's about it. Still, at least Doctor Strange ties up a loose end from Agent Carter. 3) The Orb Of Agamotto One of Doctor Strange's most synonymous accessories is present and correct in this movie - namely the Eye of Agamotto. In the film, it is said to be an ancient artifact that allows the user to turn back time. This is later revealed to be because it is one of the six Infinity Stones that big blue bad guy Thanos is so desperately trying to get his hands on. This isn't the first Something of Agamotto that has popped up in the MCU, however. In Thor, the Orb of Agamotto could be briefly seen on Asgard, as part of Odin's collection of precious relics. In the comics, the Orb is usually housed in Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum at 177a Bleecher Street. Its main function is to see into other realms and alert Strange to any threats to Earth. It can also be used as a gateway to said other realms. Odin's vault of treasures also contained an Infinity Gauntlet, identical to the one later seen worn by Thanos in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Given that, it seems likely that the Orb will turn up in a future Doctor Strange movie. Who knows, maybe Thor will give it to him as a present in Thor: Ragnarok? If you're wondering who this all-important Agamotto guy is, it's explained in the movie that he was the first Sorcerer Supreme who invented the Mystic Arts. What it doesn't mention is that he is also an Elder God, a hugely powerful cosmic entity who we expect will pop up at some point in the MCU. 2) The Quantum Realm This connection between Doctor Strange and another movie isn't obvious at first, but when you have it spelled out it becomes clear that it's another instance of the MCU foreshadowing the introduction of Doctor Strange's mythology. In Ant-Man, we learn that when Hank Pym's shrinking suit gets too small it enters into a subatomic reality known as the Quantum Realm - a place without time or space which is filled with trippy images that would look at home in Doctor Strange. Kevin Feige has confirmed that's because the Quantum Realm (which is known as the Microverse in the comics) was intended to give the audience their first taste of the weird and exotic other dimensions that Doctor Strange would properly dive into. "If you look up the study of quantum mechanics, when you get down that small, as Hank Pym says, space time is meaningless, and there’s a lot of that stuff that applies to Doctor Strange. So this is sort of an appetizer for, ‘If you think this is weird… '" 1) The Coming Ragnarok The biggest connection to the wider MCU to be found in Doctor Strange is, of course, the mid-credits sequence that forms a teaser for the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok and confirms that Stephen Strange will be putting in an appearance in the movies. The scene features Thor visiting the Sanctum Sanctorum to get Strange's help with locating his missing father, Odin (last seen having his throne poached by Loki in Thor: The Dark World). After making clear his dislike for Thor's brother Loki, Strange (who, by the way, is wearing his usual yellow gloves from the comics in this segment) agrees to help. The main question we have about this scene is whether it's lifted straight from Ragnarok, or just a tie-in to it. Thankfully, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson has explained it: "Taika shot that - I can't say if it's from Thor 3 or not, but we had our set up and were going to strike it after I finished shooting and it's a very expensive set with the chamber of relics and the window and everything... I don't know where they were on the script process, but it was before they were in production. Taika wrote that scene and came in and shot it."