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‘Doctor Strange’ Movie: Review Of Easter Eggs And Nods To Other Storylines, Cast Of Characters, And Concepts [Spoilers]

By Tony Smejek
Published on: 15:21 PST, Oct 31, 2016

The Doctor Strange movie is upon us and within a week, we’ll find out interesting tidbits the audience may overlook come this Friday. The following will be a commentary on Easter eggs via We Got This Covered. Some eggs could go unnoticed and may prove to be helpful if you’ve missed it the first time, but this is getting into spoiler territory so be warned. References to a cast of characters, concepts, and storylines make the MCU much more interesting.

Those Other Mystical Conjurers

There were other cast of characters in the film that also have knowledge of the mystical arts. Not much time was spent on them, but when Doctor Strange makes his journey he mistakes Hamir, played by Topo Wresniwiro, for The Ancient One. This is a nod to Master Hamir or Hamir the Hermit who appeared in the earlier publications of the Marvel Comics. Wong is also son to Hamir in the comics and also servant to Stephen Strange.

Daniel Drumm, played by Mark Anthony Brighton, is the protector of the Sanctum Sanctorum building and then later killed off by Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius character. He first appeared in the 60s’ Strange Tales comics and in the recent Doctor Strange prelude comic. He’s twin brother to Jericho Drumm, a.k.a Brother Voodoo.

Along with Drumm is Tina Minoru, played by Linda Louise Duan. She is actually mother to Nico Minoru who is known for her role in The Runaways which will be adapted into a TV series on Hulu. Nico is also part of a supervillain team called The Pride in the Marvel comics.

Doctor Strange’s The Oath Inspired The MCU Version

If any Marvel Comics fan can remember, “The Oath” storyline in the publication was said to have inspired the big-screen version of the Marvel flick. In particular, it was the scene where Christine Palmer, played by Rachel McAdams, was attempting to operate on Doctor Strange only to have himself astral projected into the room.

https://youtu.be/gXbAM2CZiOg

Although the inspiration of this scene was brought forth to the MCU version, according to The Daily Dot, it is Linda Carter who is the nurse in the comic while Palmer was the second comic book version adapted to the big screen. Although the latter Night Nurse did take up the mantle to heal injured superheroes, that was a task left up to Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple in the Netflix series.

Benedict Cumberbatch was in full costume when he entered a New York comic shop and had a picture taken holding The Oath graphic novel.

Stan The Man Lee Cameo, As Always

The MCU wouldn’t feel right without Stan Lee popping up and he does simply show up on a bus trip reading a textbook entitled The Doors of Perception by author Aldous Huxley. This Easter egg does seem to be an appropriate choice of reading material as this is an autobiography of the author who talks about his experiences having used the hallucinogen Mescaline.

Considering Doctor Strange has its “trippy” visual effects, this reading material makes a well-placed nod to the well-done visuals in the movie.

Impressive Visuals

Doctor Strange’s abilities to warp reality, partake in inter-dimensional travel and other conjuring abilities is what makes this movie believable.

Director Scott Derrickson and cinematographer Ben Davis pay homage to The Matrix, creating analogous familiarity between Morpheus and The Ancient One regarding similar teaching philosophies. Not to mention fight scenes that are somewhat similar.

Then there is also the Inception-inspired bending and twisting of cityscapes that give the audience great eye candy.

Significant Artifacts For Tools Of The Trade

The tools of Doctor Strange are typically spells learned from tomes and artifacts, plenty of which were taken from the comics. The Cloak of Levitation is of great use to Doctor Strange as well as the Wand of Watoomb. Wong is seen wielding the latter in the climax of the movie and the artifact has been known in the comics to have six of these that exist in different dimensions.

Dormammu and his disciples wind up acquiring them over time in the Marvel comics.

Then there’s Mordo’s Staff of the Living Tribunal. It was said by Mordo that there is some magic that cannot be handled by humans. It’s mostly contained and is only triggered when the cosmic balance is seriously out of place. Most interesting is that the powers of this artifact are said to “dwarf” that of the Infinity Gauntlet.

But would that only depend on who is wielding the Infinity Gauntlet? The Mad Titan Thanos is quite cunning and intelligent, so would this not bring him up at least to the staff’s equivalent?

The Eye Of Agamotto

This is a highly significant artifact that turns back time and saves the “whole of reality” from the clutches of Dormammu in the final scenes of the Doctor Strange movie. Within it is an Infinity Stone, a piece of the Infinity Gauntlet puzzle that Thanos seeks out.

This will allow for the Sorcerer Supreme to team up with the Avengers in Infinity War to help aid against the biggest threat to the Marvel universe.

The Doctor Strange movie opens in theaters this Friday, Nov. 4.

[Featured Image by Rich Polk/Getty Images]

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