The 'Doctor Strange' End Credit Scenes: Our Spoiler-Filled Breakdown
Warning: The following post has major spoilers for Doctor Strange
“Doctor Strange Will Return,” promises the end of Doctor Strange’s closing credits reel. And, as per Marvel Studios tradition, two sequences tucked away in that lengthy list of actors, crew members, and special effects wizards point to the exact nature of that return. (The movie is in theaters now.) In fact, you can look for his first reappearance a year from now on Nov. 3, 2017. That’s when Thor: Ragnarok, the third solo adventure for Chris Hemsworth’s Asgardian warrior — who famously sat out Marvel’s recent Captain America: Civil War, preferring to hang with his new buddy Darryl — arrives in theaters.
And just as Ant-Man provided a small glimpse of Captain America: Civil War during the closing credits, Doctor Strange features what may be a completed sequence from Ragnarok, which recently wrapped production under the guiding hand of New Zealand writer-director Taika Waititi. (In a recent interview, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson confirmed that Waititi directed this specific scene but declined to say whether it will definitely appear in Ragnarok.) Before landing this high-profile Marvel gig, Waititi was best known for helming comedies like What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and this scene displays his trademark flair for droll humor.
Related: Jeff Goldblum Preps for ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and More Photos From the Set
At the Sanctum Sanctorum, Doctor Strange’s New York headquarters, we see that the Sorcerer Supreme-in-training (Benedict Cumberbatch) is in the midst of a conversation with an unseen guest. “Earth has wizards now?” a familiar deep voice asks, as we cut from Strange’s bemused face to a bearded, ponytailed Thor, dressed in casual street wear rather than his usual armor. Declining his host’s offer of tea, Thor instead requests his preferred beverage — brewed from hops and barley, rather than leaves — and Stephen politely obliges by conjuring up a giant glass of beer, which Thor quaffs quickly.
The two go on to discuss the exact reason for the Asgardian’s visit to the Big Apple, especially since he’s brought along his troublemaking brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston, who isn’t glimpsed onscreen). Thor clarifies that they’re hunting for his missing father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), which means he’s finally learned about the fast one that Loki pulled on him at the end of Thor: The Dark World. As you may recall, that film found the mischief-maker “dying” while fighting alongside his brother, only to assume his adopted father’s visage in an attempt to rule Asgard after Thor turned down the job of king.
Finding where Loki stashed the real Odin is the impetus for Thor’s journey in Ragnarok, which Hemsworth’s co-star, Mark Ruffalo, aka the Hulk, has previously described as an “intergalactic buddy road movie.” And now they’ve got another friend to help them ease on down that road, as Strange volunteers his services. “Allow me to help you,” he says at the end of the scene, suggesting that his “help” will consist of using his wizardry to point Thor and Loki (and maybe Hulk) toward the dimension where Odin currently resides. Gotta wonder if Strange will also inform his new pal that one of those infernal Infinity Stones is currently in his possession in the form of the time-rewinding device the Eye of Agamotto.
After doing a fellow Marvel hero a solid, Doctor Strange’s second end-credits are all about the inevitable Strange sequel. Having decided that the path of the recently deceased Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) is no longer his own, Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) pays a visit to Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt), the former paraplegic who originally pointed Strange to Kamar-Taj. Already disillusioned by the revelation that his former teacher used dark magic to prolong her life, Mordo is equally unhappy that Pangborn is, in his eyes, abusing his power by using magic to make his shattered body move. So he strips the poor man of his magic, leaving him writhing on the floor. He then hints at his future plans, stating that the real problem with the world today is that there are “too many sorcerers.”
With that chilling declaration, Mordo effectively announces himself as Strange’s nemesis for the next movie and beyond, a role the character has occupied in Marvel’s comic book universe since his introduction in the pages of Strange Tales #111. (Hardcore Marvel zombies will no doubt note that his chosen phrase, “Too many sorcerers,” has obvious echoes of the Scarlet Witch’s universe-altering “No more mutants,” which kicked off 2005’s Avengers–X-Men cross-over event House of M, set in an alternate reality where the mutant population is drastically diminished.) It also places a ticking clock on Stephen’s journey to replace the Ancient One as the earth’s designated Sorcerer Supreme. Because if Mordo achieves magical supremacy first, you can bet he’s not going to be a kinder, gentler magic man.
Related: The Doctor Strange Movie Before ‘Doctor Strange’: A Visit to the Marvel Lost and Found
Watch Benedict Cumberbatch talk about the magic in ‘Doctor Strange:’
