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.
