45 "Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness" Details And Callbacks You Might've Missed The First Time
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🚨 Warning: There are MASSIVE — and I mean MASSIVE — spoilers ahead for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness! 🚨
1.First, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness introduces us to America Chavez, who can travel the multiverse. If you look closely on America's signature jean jacket, you can spot a star, which represents the star-shaped portals she creates, an LGBTQ+ pride pin, which is a nod to her moms and in the comics America is a lesbian, and several phrases, including "Amor es Amor," which means, "Love is love."
2.In case you haven't watched Doctor Strange since it came out in 2016 — I mean, legit SO much has happened in the MCU since — you might not have remembered Dr. Nicodemus "Nic" West, who sits next to Strange at Christine's wedding and talks about how he lost his two cats (and brother) during The Blip. Nic was the surgeon who saved Stephen's life after his car crash. In the comics, Nic is consumed by guilt for not being able to fix Strange's hands after the accident, and he even follows him to Kamar-Taj.
3.When America Chavez arrives in our universe, she is being pursued by a giant tentacle creature. In the comics, this creature is known as Shuma-Gorath, who is a mythical one-eyed, multiversal tentacle monster who often clashes with Doctor Strange. The creature previously appeared in a few episodes of What If...?
4.The bus that Shuma-Gorath picks up during the fight with Strange and America has the number "6192" on the top. Now, since this is Marvel, numbers are always important, but the only thing I could find that made remote sense was Avengers Issue #61 and Avengers Issue #92, which involve Dr. Strange seeking out the Avengers for the first time and Scarlet Witch leaving, respectively.
If you have a better theory for these numbers, hit me up in the comments. If you think I'm overthinking these random numbers, also let me know, LOL.
5.When Christine and her husband go out onto the balcony and watch Strange and Wong fight the monster, you can spot Multiverse of Madness screenwriter Michael Waldron standing next to them as one of their guests from the wedding.
6.America explains to Doctor Strange and Wong that it's believed that dreams are essentially a window into the lives of our multiversal selves, which makes this moment from Avengers: Infinity War even more perfect. In that film, Tony tells Pepper he had a dream about their future daughter Morgan, which means he was likely getting a look at a universe where the three of them were together and happy.
7.When Strange and Wong are at Kamar-Taj, you can see a green minotaur, whose name is Rintrah. In the Marvel comics, Rintrah first appeared in Doctor Strange Vol. 2 Issue #80 in 1986. Rintrah even works at the Strange Academy, which was founded by Doctor Strange in the comics.
8.When Doctor Strange traps Wanda inside the Mirror Dimension and she escapes — in an epic Pennywise-like fashion — it's a moment taken from the comics, but it also shows just how powerful she is. In Doctor Strange, Mordo explained that people who use Dark Dimension magic are more powerful in the Mirror Dimension.
9.When America and Strange tumble through a bunch of different universes, you can spot the Living Tribunal in one of them. In the comics, Living Tribunal's purpose is to protect and keep the balance in the multiverse. In the MCU, we previously caught a glimpse of Living Tribunal in Loki Episode 5 when Loki ends up in the Void.
10.In one of the universes Doctor Strange and America go through, you can spot a taxi with an advertisement reading "Grindhouse Releasing." Grindhouse Releasing is an independent Hollywood distribution company, who notably restored and re-released Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead. Of course, Sam Raimi directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
11.The guy named Pizza Poppa, who Strange and America fight with on the street, is played by the legendary Bruce Campbell, who is best known for playing Ash in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead movies. He's famously made cameos in a bunch of Sam Raimi projects over the years.
12.When Doctor Strange and America see the Doctor Strange memorial statue outside of the Sanctum Sanctorum, you can, of course, see that the plaque calls Strange "Earth's mightiest hero," which is a nod to the Avengers being called "Earth's mightiest heroes" throughout the Marvel comics.
13.Across the street from the Sanctum in the new universe, you can spot a store called "McLeod Books," which is likely a nod to Marvel comics artist Bob McLeod, who is best known for co-creating New Mutants alongside Chris Claremont.
14.When Scarlet Witch dreamwalks for the first time into another Wanda Maximoff, you can see that Billy and Tommy are watching a cartoon featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald was created by Walt Disney in 1927, but he famously lost control of the character, and it led him to create Mickey Mouse.
15.While talking with Tommy, Billy mentions how great the 2003 Detroit Tigers were, to which Tommy replies that "they sucked." The 2003 Tigers notably finished their season with 119 losses, thus having one of the worst records in MLB history. Sam Raimi was also born and raised in Michigan.
16.After Scarlet Witch's copy of the Darkhold is destroyed, Wong tells her of Mt. Wundagore, and then they travel there. In the comics, Wundagore Mountain is where Chthon wrote the Darkhold, which is now the case in the MCU as well. Also in the comics, Chthon is later imprisoned within Wundagore Mountain, and the night he escapes, ready for battle, is when Wanda and Pietro are born. Basically, Wanda and Chthon have a lot of history in the comics. Also, not to be dramatic, but I mentioned this mountain in my Easter eggs post for WandaVision Episode 9 as a wild theory of where Wanda could be headed next.
17.When Wanda realizes that Wundagore isn't a tomb, but a throne for the Scarlet Witch, you can see that the statue behind her resembles the drawing of the Scarlet Witch from the Darkhold that we saw in WandaVision Episode 9 while Agatha was reading from the book.
18.Also on the Scarlet Witch statue, you can see that there are two children beside the Scarlet Witch, which likely represent Wiccan and Speed. At one point, Wanda even puts her hand on Wiccan's statue. In the comics, Billy and Tommy become Wiccan and Speed and fight alongside the Young Avengers, with Wiccan having similar powers to Wanda.
19.When Doctor Strange and America meet the other universe's Christine, she mentions that Strange's Earth is known as "Earth-616." In the comics, Earth-616 is also known as the Prime Universe, and it's where all of the iconic stories involving the Avengers and other heroes take place. This version of Christine mentions that they are currently on Earth-838, which is an Earth name that is unique to the MCU.
20.Christine tells Strange and America that she's the one who names universes and she works for The Baxter Foundation. In the comics, the Baxter Building was always the headquarters for the Fantastic Four, and in the 2015 film Fantastic Four, The Baxter Foundation was mentioned as an institution founded by Franklin Storm, aka Sue Storm's father.
21.When Mordo comes to get Doctor Strange and take him to see the Illuminati — more on them in 10 seconds, LOL — you can see that he's flanked by Ultron bots. So on this Earth, we get to see what the world would've looked like if Tony and Bruce's Ultron program was successful and wasn't corrupted. This also means this universe likely doesn't have a version of Vision.
22.Okay. OKAY. So, we meet The Illuminati in an epic way during Multiverse of Madness, and this is a secret organization taken right from the comic books. In the comics, Doctor Strange is part of a group called the Illuminati, which consists of himself, Professor Xavier, Reed Richards, Iron Man, Black Bolt, and Namor. Over the years, other superheroes have joined and left the Illuminati as well. Of course, in this movie, we get Professor X, Reed Richards, AND Black Bolt, who were part of the original group.
23.When we meet the Illuminati, we get our first live-action appearance of Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter, who was previously seen in What If...? Peggy became Captain Carter after she was injected with the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers. In the comics, Captain America was also a member of the Illuminati at one point.
24.Lashana Lynch also makes an appearance as Captain Marvel, after previously appearing in Captain Marvel alongside Brie Larson. In our universe, we learned in WandaVision that Maria Rambeau died during The Blip while Monica Rambeau was dusted. Of course, this version of Captain Marvel is what would've happened if Maria got Carol's powers instead.
25.Anson Mount appears as Blackagar Boltagon, aka Black Bolt, a member of the Illuminati. In the comics, Black Bolt is often seen alongside the Fantastic Four. Anson previously played Black Bolt in the short-lived Marvel series Inhumans; this time, however, he has a more comic accurate costume as well.
26.And of course, John Krasinski appears as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, who was also a crucial member of the Illuminati in the Marvel comics. For years, fans have been fan casting John as Reed, so seeing it come to life in this reality was epic. Reed appearing also comes before the MCU reboots this team for the upcoming Fantastic Four film, so who knows if John will play him again.
27.While telling Doctor Strange about what happened to their Strange, Reed mentions that he triggered an incursion. In the comics, incursions have happened a few times; most notably, Reed Richards had to help restore the multiverse when Earth-616 and Earth-1610 almost collapsed in on each other.
28.Patrick Stewart makes his grand re-entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Charles, aka Professor Xavier, and oh man, it made me cry. When he comes into the meeting with the Illuminati, you can see that he's in a yellow wheelchair, which is a nod to Professor X's look in the X-Men: The Animated series, which ran from 1992 to 1997.
29.Also, when Charles Xavier comes into the chamber, you can hear the X-Men: The Animated Series TV theme playing in the background. I love this because they could've easily used the theme song from the X-Men films, but went this route instead.
30.When Charles shows Doctor Strange what happened to their Strange and how he died, you can see that this Earth's battle with Thanos took place on Titan, meaning he never made it down to Earth like he did in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In this scene, you can also see that this version of Strange's fingertips are black from using the Darkhold, just like Wanda and Agatha.
31.At the end of their meeting, Charles reveals that he thinks they can trust our Doctor Strange and that he might be different. During this pep talk, Charles says the exact same thing he told his younger self in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
32.Before Wanda absolutely destroys Reed Richards, she asks if he has any children, and Wanda is happy to hear their mother can take care of them after he's gone. This is a nod to Sue Storm, who marries Reed, and their two children, Franklin and Valeria, from the comics.
33.During the epic battle between Scarlet Witch, Captain Carter, and Captain Marvel, Peggy utters the phrase, "I can do this all day," which is Steve Rogers's signature catchphrase that we've heard throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
34.When Professor X enters Scarlet Witch's mind, you can see that he enters through a door that looks like the one from the Maximoffs' home from WandaVision. This is also why Wanda is stuck under rubble, thus matching where she and Pietro hid after the apartment was bombed.
35.Also, when Charles tries to pull Wanda out from under the rubble, you can spot a small red TV playing the first two episodes of WandaVision. This exact TV was previously seen in WandaVision Episode 8, when Agatha and Wanda travelled through Wanda's memories.
36.When Doctor Strange, America, and Christine reach where the other Strange hid the Book of Vishanti, Christine mentions that it's in the space between universes. This is similar to the Nexus of All Realities from the comics. In the comics, the Nexus is the cross-dimensional gateway that provides a path to all possible realities.
37.When Christine and Doctor Strange land in the universe that has been destroyed, you can spot Sam Raimi's iconic yellow Oldsmobile Delta 88, which he calls "The Classic," floating in the collapsed universe. The car has appeared in all of Sam Raimi's films, like the Evil Dead, all three of his Spider-Man movies, Drag Me to Hell, and more.
38.When our Doctor Strange encounters his evil self, he talks about their sister Donna, who died. In the comics, Stephen's sister drowns and dies while they are growing up. An accident Donna suffered a few years before dying also led to Stephen becoming interested in medicine. Originally, Donna was set to appear in Doctor Strange, but the storyline was cut.
39.When our Doctor Strange is fighting evil Strange, you'll notice that evil Strange's magic is purple, just like Agatha's in WandaVision.
40.While Christine is trying to fight off the souls of the damned, she used the Brazier of Bom'Galiath to literally set them on fire. This ancient relic was previously seen in Doctor Strange, when Stephen tried to use it to fight Kaecilius. In the comics, Doctor Strange uses the Brazier of Bom'Galiath to hide himself from Mephisto. Can't believe it's been a full year since WandaVision and I'm still talking about Mephisto, but here we are.
41.When Scarlet Witch suddenly comes face-to-face with Billy and Tommy, and they think she's a monster, you can see that the boys are watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
42.OK, throughout the movie, Billy and Tommy are wearing red and green respectively, which is a nod to the colors of their superhero costumes in the comics. But, in the final reality where Scarlet Witch sees Billy and Tommy and they are frightened of her, Billy is literally wearing a shirt that looks exactly like Wanda's sweatshirt from WandaVision. I'm crying.
The best 👑 👸🏻 #familyisforever
Like, c'mon don't they look similar?!
43.When Wanda makes the decision to destroy the temple at Mt. Wundagore and the Darkhold, she's last seen being buried under the rubble — I refuse to believe she is dead; there is literally no way — which parallels when her journey to getting her powers began after she was trapped in the rubble of her house in Sokovia with Pietro.
44.At the very end of the film, when our Doctor Strange develops a third eye just like evil Strange did after reading and using the Darkhold, it is likely a physical manifestation of the Eye of Agamotto, which Strange used in Doctor Strange and Infinity War.
