Doctor Strange Cameos, Easter Eggs and Hidden References

Mr Sunday Movies takes a look at all of the easter eggs, cameos, and hidden references found in Marvel‘s newly released superhero film, Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange Easter Eggs and References:

• Avengers Tower is in the beginning of the movie when the NYC skyline is shown.

• The list of injured people from the beginning mentions:

– A 35-year-old Army colonel broke his back wearing experimental armor (director Scott Derrickson said not James Rhodes)
– A 22-year -old woman with a chip in her head to control schizophrenia got hit by lightning (is it Carol Danvers Captain Marvel as the MCU will be having a different origin for the character?). Update: Director Scott Derrickson comments.

• Pink Gloyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive” is playing while Strange drives his Lamborghini; Pink Floyd’s second album, “Saucerful of Secrets,” features a Doctor Strange Easter Egg on its cover; their song “Cymbaline” also features a Doctor Strange lyric. Benedict Cumberbatch also recently joined Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour on stage in London to sing “Comfortably Numb.”

• An older Asian male character is thought to be The Ancient One at first by Doctor Strange.

• Possible Star Wars reference that exists in the Marvel movies with the older Asian having a missing hand (nod to Luke in Return of the Jedi).

• The WiFi password given by Mordo is “Shamballa,” a reference to the Doctor Strange “Into Shamballa” comic.

• Doctor Strange’s introduction to the multiverse revealed the Quantum Realm (Microverse) mentioned in the Ant-Man movie and where the original Wasp is trapped.

• Staff of the The Living Tribunal, which references the Marvel Cosmic entity of the same name that first appeared in Strange Tales #157, and is basically the most powerful character in the Marvel universe that judges and maintains order.  We can also guess with inclusion of The Living Tribunal that the Marvel Cosmic Abstracts are confirmed for the MCU (Death, Chaos, Order, Infinity, Eternity, etc).

• Wong uses the Wand of Watoomb, a mystical artifact in the Marvel universe usually associated with Doctor Strange villain Xandu.

• Tina Minorou holds the Staff of One, a powerful magic stave associated with Nico Minoru (Runaways) and even said to have been feared by Dormammu. Tina Minorou is the mother of Nico.

• Daniel Drumm, the brother of Jericho Drumm (Brother Voodoo) is the protector of the Sanctum Sanctorum when Strange first arrives. In the film he is first referred to as “Daniel,” and then a second time as “Drumm.”

• Eye of Agamotto is the Time Infinity Stone (Time Gem in Infinity Gauntlet comic).

• Doctor Strange’s levitation cloak pulls him away from the Axe of Angarruumus, Doctor Strange’s current weapon of choice in the comics.

• The weapons that bind Kaecilius are the Crimson Bands of Cyrrotak.

• Doctor Strange mid-credit scene deals with Thor: Ragnarok.

• Doctor Strange mid-credit scene features Strange with bright yellow glove(s) which is a homage to the yellow gloves from the comics.

• Doctor Strange post-credit scene features Mordo becoming a villain.

• The last line of the movie in the credits says to avoid distracted driving, referencing Doctor Strange’s car crash earlier in the film and probably is also a play on “They always put the warnings in after the spells.”

• The movie borrowed/inspired  from the Doctor Strange graphic novel The Oath.

• Benedict Cumberbatch did the performance for Dormammu, and another British actor and Cumberbatch did the voice of Dormmamu which was mixed (same for Smaug in Hobbit).

• Wong explains why the Sorceror Supreme’s and students didn’t get involved in any of the previous Avengers movies: They guard Earth from mystic threats while the Avengers guard Earth from the physical threats, and this also explains why Doctor Strange gets involved in Avengers: Ininfity War as Thanos is a mystic threat through use of the Infinity Stones (and obviously will want Strange’s Eye of Agamotto/Time Stone).

• A missing book in the library may be the Darkhold from Agents of SHIELD and Ghost Rider.

• Stan Lee’s Doctor Strange cameo features him reading Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, a book about Huxley’s experience taking mind-altering drugs, which is a nod to the movie’s visuals.

• Not only was the footage reversed during the time travel sequences, but so was the music.

• The name of Thanos also spells out the Infinity Stones in the movies:

T-esseract
H-? (speculated Thor: Ragnarok)
A-ether
N-ecklace
O-rb
S-cepter

• Dormammu turns Kaecilius and his followers into Mindless Ones at the end of the movie following Doctor Strange’s bargain.

 

Update: Another Easter Egg is a nod to the first Avengers movie that saw NYC being destroyed and the portal closed. Director Scott Derrickson decided to un-destroy a city in Doctor Strange and go through the portal to see what’s on the other side.