Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness — MCU Easter Eggs And References You May Have Missed

Time Stamp: May 6, 2022 4:35 PM

Time to explore the multiverse in Doctor Strange 2, and break down all those little nods and clues along the way.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness is in theaters now, after a handful of delays and a whopping six years since the first Doctor Strange movie. The MCU is a very, very different place now as we progress through Phase 4, so naturally the jokes, references, and Easter Eggs are a bit different than what you might have been expecting. There actually aren’t a ton of plot-critical references to other MCU movies or shows, with the exception of some details from WandaVision you might like filled in–but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of ground to tread and spoilers to break down.

We picked out our favorite of the references, Easter Eggs, and Marvel Comics nods from the movie to break down, and in doing so we’re going to be getting into some major spoiler territory. Please proceed with caution if that’s something you’re trying to avoid!

With all these disparate pieces now floating around the multiverse, cooking up theories and guesses as to where things are going is getting more tricky than ever–so using what we know know, as well as the roster of newly introduced characters and that post-credits scene–and the details listed here, where do you think Phase 4 is headed? Do you have any major guesses for a Thanos-level villain? Let us know in the comments below.

1. America Chavez

Welcome America Chavez to the MCU. First introduced in the comics back in 2011, she quickly became a Young Avenger. Her powers in the movie are significantly nerfed from her comic book self who can fly, has super strength, and super speed. We could very well see those abilities develop later in the movies, though.

2. Book of Vishanti

The artifact America and Strange are looking for is the Book of Vishanti, which in the comics is an artifact of order magic–the opposite of Wanda’s chaos magic. It was introduced in the ’60s. In the movie, it is a mythical item that can provide its user with anything they need.

3. Gargantos

The squid monster Strange fights in NYC has a name. It’s Gargantos, which is like a smaller, less powerful version of another big tentacle monster called Shuma-Gorath.

4. Mt. Wundagore

Wanda Maximoff fans will recognize the name from (one of) her origin stories where she was raised at the foot of the mountain by a cow-human named Bova, a creation of a being called the High Evolutionary who presides over the mountain. The MCU borrows from a much earlier point in the mountain’s history, however, and focuses on its relationship to the Darkhold.

5. Earth 838

The alternate universe Strange and America crash land into is noted as Earth 838–which, interestingly enough, doesn’t have a notable counterpart in the comics.

6. The Illuminati

While 838 may not be a direct reference to anything in the comics, the Illuminati organization certainly is. The MCU version includes a different roster–Mordo, Captain Marvel, Reed Richards, Charles Xavier, Blackbolt, and Peggy Carter–but the organization itself has its roots in stories dating back to the early ’00s.

7. Xavier

Sometimes, Marvel isn’t great at keeping secrets. Fans were guessing that Patrick Stewart would be reprising his role as Professor X after a voiceover in a trailer gave it away and, unsurprisingly, that’s exactly what happened. This Xavier is a member of the 838 Illuminati. He is killed by Wanda, who snaps his neck.

8. Blackbolt

A surprise return. Blackbolt, the Inhuman leader, is also a member of the 838 Illuminati, and officially our first Inhuman in a mainline MCU movie–kind of. Anson Mount reprises his role from the very short-lived Inhumans TV show.

9. Reed Richards

Perhaps the most major of the reveals, John Krasinski has been cast as the MCU’s first Fantastic Four member: Reed Richards. We don’t get to know much about him, however, Wanda makes quick work of him in their fight. He does mention having a wife and kids though, so we can assume that the FF are pretty well established in 838 if nothing else.

10. Ultron Sentries

The 838 Illuminati compound is staffed by friendly Ultron Sentries, hinting at a major departure from our universe’s Utlron story where the robot was a power-mad megalomaniac voiced by James Spader.

11. Jocasta?

The giant statue that Wanda uses to crush Captain Marvel looks an awful like Jocasta, a robot that was originally created as a sort of Bride of Frankenstein for Ultron but who later became her own character and a hero in her own right.

12. Captain Marvel

838’s Captain Marvel is none other than Monica Rambeau, who recently unlocked her own superpowers during WandaVision in the 616 universe. It’s not clear what happened to the 838 Carol Danvers or if she even existed at all in that world. Unfortunately, we’ll likely never know because Monica is crushed by Wanda before we can learn much about her. There is comic book precedent for Monica taking over the mantle, however.

13. Captain Carter

This is actually the second time we’ve seen Captain Carter in the MCU, but the first time was animated in the What If…? Show. It’s not likely that the What If…? Episode was set in 838, but it could have been!

14. Evil Strange

Like Captain Carter, we’ve seen an evil Doctor Strange before–but probably not this specific evil Strange. This one, in an unspecified alternate world (not to be confused with the evil Strange from What If…? Who was his own thing), was corrupted by the Darkhold and now makes it his mission to dreamwalk to other Strange versions and try to kill them. Unfortunately for him, however, he’s run up quite a tab with the demons responsible for the Darkhold’s magic.

15. The Baxter Foundation

Reed mentions the existence of the Baxter Foundation on Earth 838, which is a nod to the Fantastic Four’s headquarters, the Baxter Building–we unfortunately don’t get to learn much more about what 838’s Baxter Foundation is or what they do, or who’s involved, but hey, at least we can be certain that the Fantastic Four are going to be developing at a pretty steady pace from here on out.

16. Universe 616

Christine explains that 838 has been studying the multiverse and has designated the one Strange and America traveled from as Universe 616–which ought to be a huge relief for a lot of fans who have been struggling to clarify what happens and where in the multiverse since the start of Phase 4. 616 has long been the shorthand in comics to explain the “main” universe in Marvel, where most comics are set and most stories are told. The same can now officially be said for the MCU.

17. The Darkhold

The source of Wanda’s woes is the Darkhold, a cursed and demonic book of magic. It was first brought up in the MCU back in WandaVision (or, well, technically in Agents of SHIELD but it’s difficult to draw the line between the two versions.) Agatha used the Darkhold to infiltrate Wanda’s Westview illusions, and despite Wanda overcoming Agatha’s power and seeing the error of her ways with the Westview disaster, the Darkhold’s pull was just too strong.

18. Clea

Our major post-credits scene is devoted to briefly introducing Charlize Theron as Clea, though she isn’t named in the moment. In the comics, Clea is a sorcerer supreme from another universe and even, for a while back in the ’60s and ’70s, was Strange’s wife. Here in the MCU she seems to be able to move between universes and is coming to get Strange’s help.

19. Incursions

One of the major risks of multiversal travel is the sparking of an “incursion,” where one reality physically crashes into another. The concept was used heavily during Johnathan Hickman’s run on the New Avengers back in the 2010s, so if you’re looking to learn more about the risks and possible solutions for such a catastrophe, we recommend you start there and from there, you’ll want to check out Secret Wars.

20. Bruce Campbell

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Sam Raimi superhero movie without everyone’s favorite, Bruce Campbell, playing a random gag character as a cameo. Campbell was in all of Raimi’s Spider-Man movies and continues the tradition here as a street food vendor who even gets the final word of the movie in the second post-credits scene.

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