It's no secret that 2016's Doctor Strange is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
but just how connected is the Master of the Magic Arts to his fellow superheroes and his
comic legacy?
Here are a few Doctor Strange Easter eggs you may not have noticed.
New York, New York
The flow of time gets a little wacky in Doctor Strange, thanks to the influence of the Eye
of Agamotto and the Infinity Stone powering it.
But we can safely say that the film takes place in a world that's well aware of superheroes.
During a few shots in the film, we see the Avengers' tower standing tall over New York.
However, by the end of Age of Ultron, the Avengers have abandoned the tower and moved
to upstate New York like Rhinebeck hipsters.
Either way, hero stuff is going on, so Strange isn't alone.
War Machine?
Moments before master surgeon Stephen Strange has the car accident that changes his life,
he hears about a 35-year-old with a spine problem and an experimental suit of armor.
And despite an Easter egg dropped in Daredevil, it's probably not Stilt-Man.
Mostly because no one would care if Stilt-Man was paralyzed.
Tony Stark made pretty sure that no one was flying around using any of his designs by
blowing up his entire arsenal at the end of Iron Man 3, and we know that poor ol' Rhodey
suffered a pretty devastating spinal injury during Civil War.
While the filmmakers have denied any connection, how many people are really hanging out in
"experimental armor" in the MCU?
Shamballa
"What's this?
My mantra?"
"The WiFi password.
We're not savages."
The concept of Shamballa isn't unique to Doctor Strange, as the mystical, otherworldly kingdom
has existed in religious texts for centuries.
Not coincidentally, Into Shamballa is also the name of an important Doctor Strange story
from 1986, concerning not only the death of the Ancient One, but also featuring Hamir,
the one-handed magic man from the temple in the movie.
While the comics reveal that Hamir is actually Wong's father, the film flipped the script
in so many ways that it's not likely that this relationship translated to the big screen.
Drumm
Like most of Marvel's heroes have done at one time or another, Doctor Strange has also
relinquished his title and let someone else fly around in his Cloak of Levitation for
a while.
In the film, the now-dead guardian of the New York Sanctum was simply called "Drumm."
Eagle-eared Marvel fans will recognize the name as belonging to brothers Jericho and
Daniel Drumm, the latter of which was a voodoo houngan.
Comic book things happen, and the two are joined in spirit and become Brother Voodoo.
At one point, Jericho Drumm takes possession of the Eye of Agamotto and takes the name
"Doctor Voodoo," who also happens to be the Sorcerer Supreme.
It doesn't last forever, but it's clear that the MCU is planting magical seeds everywhere.
The Doctor Strange movie's prelude comics confirm that this dead guardian was, in fact,
Daniel Drumm.
Not only that, but the comics — and a brief moment in the film — also feature Tina Minoru
as another Master of the Mystic Arts.
She's a secret practitioner of dark magic in Marvel's Runaways, and mother of powerful
witch Nico Minoru.
So, the Runaways have basically been confirmed in the MCU, and psychic pet dinosaurs can't
be that far behind, which is the greatest thing ever.
The Living Tribunal
The hierarchy of power in Marvel Comics is confusing, and even though there are only
a few big, bad guys in the MCU, it's already reaching perplexing levels of power.
Thanos is no slouch, but he's not much without his Infinity Stones.
Dormammu seems like a big deal, but he also seems like a less-intelligent version of Galactus
so far.
So when Mordo mentions the Staff of the Living Tribunal, you know stuff is going to get crazy.
"This is the staff of the Living Tribunal."
Though he's a bit obscure, the Living Tribunal is one of Marvel's many godlike characters:
an enormous, all-powerful dude with a floating head that has three faces.
He essentially keeps all the multiverses in balance and only has one being above him in
terms of power.
No, actually it's this guy.
And somehow, some part of The Living Tribunal is captured in a wooden stick in the middle
of nowhere.
Because magic!
The Wand of Watoomb and the Book of Vishanti
Doctor Strange has a few signature magical items.
Among them are the Eye of Agamotto, which causes no end of trouble for Strange in both
the film and the comics, and the Cloak of Levitation.
Curiously missing is the Book of Vishanti, which is basically Strange's bible and encyclopedia,
though it's probably locked up in Wong's well-guarded library, right alongside the book that Strange
does use, the Book of Cagliostro.
If you've been watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., you know that there's another magical book
floating around the MCU at the moment as well: the Darkhold, which actually shares a few
pages with the Book of Cagliostro.
Not to mention that the Book of Cagliostro has a few pages that were actually written
by God.
And probably a few by James Patterson.
We also get a glimpse of one of Strange's other signature weapons: the Wand of Watoomb.
Even though it's Wong who wields the item in defense of the Hong Kong Sanctum, that
weird, knobby, horned stick is unmistakable.
Blu-ray replays will probably reveal even more of Strange's armory locked up in the
Bleecker Street Sanctum.
Which, by the way, is located at 177A, just like in the comics.
Nic West
The jealous, potato-chip-loving Doctor Nic West is actually a character right out of
the pages of a 2007 Doctor Strange story called "The Oath," where he plays the doctor who
bungles Strange's busted-up hands beyond usefulness.
He begins magical training, just like Strange, but he's a C student at best.
Eventually, he accidentally kills someone with magic, and he and Strange duke it out,
with West falling off a building to his death.
And that scene where an astral Strange helps someone with an operation on his own mortal
body?
Straight out of "The Oath," too.
Mindless Ones
The Dark Dimension basically has three main inhabitants: Dormammu, his sister Umar, and…
"The mindless ones!"
Those guys are Dormammu's featureless, grey, cycloptic hench-things.
At the conclusion of Doctor Strange, we see Kaecilius and his minions get sucked into
the Dark Dimension, losing all their features in the process … and looking suspiciously
like Mindless Ones during their transformation, with glints of light replacing their faces.
It seems likely that anyone who allies with Dormammu and his promise of eternal life will
eventually be transformed into a Mindless One.
What this means for the Ancient One?
We may never know…
The Doors of Perception
The obligatory Stan Lee cameo was so much more than just an old dude reading on the
bus.
The book that Lee is giggling at is The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley.
Not only is it a literal reference to Strange's perception of reality being forced open, but
the book is pretty much an essay about a psychedelic drug trip, which is no small comment on both
the dazzling special effects of the movie, and the Dark Dimension.
That place looks like a Steve Ditko drawing come to life, and it's practically a spitting
image of those 1970s Third Eye blacklight posters Marvel used to sell for your parents'
teenage drug dens.
"Ohhhh!"
"Wow, man!"
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