The long touted Marvel film, Doctor Strange , was all but confirmed during Captain America: The Winter Soldier courtesy of an Easter egg.
Doctor Strange is set to be a part of Marvel Studios’ third cinematic phase, and a reference to Stephen Strange during Steve Rogers’ critically lauded sequel proves that he is still clearly in their plans.
There are a few SPOILERS ahead, so if you haven’t seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier , and you want to do so without it being slightly ruined, then you probably shouldn’t read ahead.
When Agent Sitwell, who is revealed to be a member of Hydra, is cornered by Anthony Mackie’s Falcon, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Chris Evans’ Captain America he starts to reveal the evil company’s plans, which will see them wipe out potential threats before they begin. In order to do so they plan to fight some of S.H.I.E.L.D’s most potent weapons, which includes The Avengers.
At this point, Sitwell lists some of these potential threats, which includes Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and Stephen Strange, who are Iron Man, The Hulk and Doctor Strange respectively.
Marvel have allegedly been working on adapting Doctor Strange since 1986. Bob Gale originally wrote a script for the film, before in 1992 Wes Craven was signed up to write and direct the project.
However, after that never materialised, David S Goyer worked on a screenplay for the character, and since then Michael France, Stephen Norrington, Guillermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman have tried in vain to bring the film to fruition.
Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige confirmed in January 2013 that Doctor Strange would finally appear in some capacity over the next few years, while Jon Hamm has been heavily linked to the starring role.
There were several other Captain America: The Winter Soldier Easter eggs that viewers might not have spotted during first viewing.
Others included a brief shot of the decrepit Avengers Tower, which was destroyed in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, while Nick Fury’s grave also featured a bible passage that Samuel L Jackson recited in Pulp Fiction.
The post-credits sequences also gave viewers their first looks at Baron Von Strucker, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, each of whom will appear in Avengers: Age Of Ultron.
Meanwhile, Rumlow, who went toe to toe with Steve Rogers and Falcon during the follow-up, turned into Crossbones at the film’s conclusion, while Community directors Anthony and Joe Russo, who oversaw the film, also cast the sitcom’s Danny Pudi in a small role too.
[Images via Marvel]