Doctor Strange is the fourteenth entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and despite being one of the most standalone adventures to date, there are still plenty of allusions to the original comics and the wider MCU.
Here are the best ones we spotted...
The song playing while Strange has his life-changing car crash is the psychedelic rock classic Interstellar Overdrive (1967) by Pink Floyd.
Comparison: a Saucerful of Secrets (1968) and Marie Severin's art from Strange Tales #158.
The appreciation is mutual, too, with the British band featuring artwork from Strange Tales #158 on the cover of their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). Incidentally, that piece of art by Marie Severin features another character referenced elsewhere in the movie: The Living Tribunal.
While sparring, Mordo wields a weapon he names as The Staff of the Living Tribunal.
He goes on to explain that some magic is too powerful to be sustained by humans alone, so artifacts are used to carry the burden.
The Living Tribunal is, in fact, one of the most powerful beings in all of Marvel. This vast, humanoid cosmic entity protects the Multiverse from destruction. It usually intervenes when the cosmic balance is seriously threatened. In the comics, Doctor Strange was the first earth-dweller to encounter this awesome being.
Interestingly, The Living Tribunal’s power is said to dwarf that of the Infinity Gauntlet, which is about to dominate the MCU in future movies. Either way, it’s good to know the Tribunal exists, just in case The Avengers don’t patch things up in time.
There's a lot of weird words uttered in Doctor Strange, but almost all of them are rooted in the source material.
For instance, the Wand of Watoomb, which Mordo mentions in passing and is wielded by Wong at the movie's climax, is a recurring MacGuffin in plenty of Strange stories. In the comics, there are six mystical artifacts from different dimensions that bear the name.
They are objects of immense power, capable of greatly enhancing the mystical energies of the wielder. The very first Wand of Watoomb was broken until it reconstructed by the disciples of Dormammu.
Mordo also wears the Vaulting Boots of Valtorr. While we can't find any mention of these specifics boots in the comics, Valtorr is another powerful mystical entity Strange invokes repeatedly in the comics. Typically, he adopts the form of a gas (the Vapors of Valtorr) or snakes, as you do.
The Doors of Perception (1954) by Aldous Huxley.
As Strange tumbles through a kaleidoscopic Manhattan, he slams into the side of a bus carrying his co-creator Stan Lee.Lee is busy immersing himself in Aldous Huxley’s 1954 essay, The Doors of Perception, which is a philosophical account of Huxley’s experiences while using mescaline, a naturally occurring hallucinogen with effects similar to LSD.
This is a reference not only to the trippy quality of Steve Ditko’s early work on Strange, but also the way in which the character resonated with – and in some respects, foreshadowed – the trends of 1960s counterculture.
The influence of Strange’s other creator – Steve Ditko – is also writ large. Nowhere is this more evident than when we enter The Dark Dimension towards the film's conclusion.
Credit: Entertainment Weekly.
It’s the inimitable work of Ditko brought to the big screen.
Strange Tales #138
The doctor who operates on Strange’s hands and steals free crisps from that hospital vending machine is Nicodemus West.
Played in the movie by Michael Stuhlbarg, West is a prominent character in The Oath (2007), a popular five-issue Doctor Strange miniseries by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin, which heavily influenced the tone of the movie.
In that story, West follows Strange to Kamar-Taj and also trains under The Ancient One, before leaving prematurely and fulfilling a more devious role. It’s possible West is being set up to have a larger role in future movies, or perhaps it's just a nice wink to the story.
The Oath provided more direct inspiration for one of the movie's most memorable scenes, in which Christine Palmer operates on Strange while speaking to his astral form.
This scene plays out in The Oath almost identically, except in the source material it’s Night Nurse, not Palmer, who operates on Strange.
Keep reading to discover Cumberbatch's secret second role in the movie and how they teased Brother Voodoo.
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