The release ofDoctor Strangeis very nearly upon us, and Marvel Studios wants to verify we are all very excited for the movie. So, they decided to show some lucky fans around the country 15 minutes ofIMAXfootage last night, which was very revealing. The footage revealed when exactly the movie takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and also may have teased a major villain for the future.
Marvelinvited fans to IMAX theaters all across the U.S. last night for a free event where they could get a look at some of the specially formatted footage inDoctor Strange. The visuals were nothing shy of spellbinding, but they weren’t so distracting that we didn’t notice a few things. The biggest of those things being that we now know that the movie takes place at least around the same time asIron Man 2. How do we know this? Well, during a phone call Stephen Strange is evaluating potential patients, when his assistant had this to say.
“I’ve got a 35-year-old Marine Colonel, crushed his lower spine in some kind of experimental armor.”
That sounds a lot like the Marine who was shown being twisted in half while operating Justin Hammer’s experimental suit, which it probably is. This is interesting because it means that by the time we seeBenedict Cumberbatch’sDoctor Strangejoin up with the otherAvengersat some point, he will have actually been a practitioner of the mystic arts for a decent chunk of time and no longer a newbie to the sorcery game. That is significant, because it means he will probably be more of a fully realized Sorcerer Supreme inAvengers: Infinity War, or if he does wind up having a scene inThor: Ragnarok, which has been teased.
There were definitely a few other things to note about the footage that Marvel screened last night, but fair warning, some of this may get a little spoilery. For one, we can say with certainty thatScott Derricksonstayed very true to the origin forDoctor Strange, because we got to see the famous car crash that ruins his hands in its entirety, and it is brutal. But in a very satisfying cinematic way. We also got to seeStan Lee’s cameo, but that is probably better for fans to see on their own, but rest assured, it is solid.
Last, but most very certainly not least, a major Marvel villain was potentially teased for future movies. Last warning to bail out now. During two different sequences, which heavily teased the concept of theMultiversein the MCU,Doctor Strangeappeared to encounter the ruler of the Dark Dimension, better known as the dreadedDormammu. The glimpses were very brief, but appeared to show Strange’s arch nemesis as a massive, fiery head. That would definitely gel with some of theSteve Ditkodepictions of the character, which this movie definitely was influenced heavily by based on the footage. So, even though Stephen Strange will be squaring off with Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) this time around, it seems like Dormammu may very well be a threat to the MCU in the future.
Beyond that, we can safely say that theDoctor Strangefootage wowed the fans who were in attendance and it should definitely be somethingMarvel fansshould be looking forward to. Tickets for the movie are on sale now.Doctor Strangehits theaters on November 4.
