Thanks to the powerful magic of organized sports we have a new Doctor Strange trailer. While we’ll be digging into that elsewhere, this piece is all about the poster released alongside it. The epic one sheet shows Strange in the midst of a shattering mirror. That aspect makes a lot of sense as we’ve seen Strange in his mirror universe, as well as mirrors as a representation of the multiverse before. But there’s more than meets the eye! After much zooming in and lots of late night exploring and comic book excavating, we’re here to talk about all the hidden Easter eggs. Organized from most clear and likely to most blurry and out there, this piece will dig into all the shadowy figures and faces that appear on the poster and what they could mean for the movie!
Read to the bottom of the piece to discover our poster key so that you can explore our finds!
1. Let’s Start with the Obvious
We’re beginning with the most recognizable here: There are multiple versions of Strange, Wanda, Wong, Baron Mordo, Christine Palmer, and America Chavez throughout the shattered mirror. That makes sense as we’re about to embark on a multiversal journey, so we could potentially meet more than one version of each. It’s interesting to note that at least one version of each character is screaming. That makes us think that Sam Raimi’s horror chops are going to be putting our faves through hell. We also see an eye that looks like it belongs to Shuma-Gorath/Gargantos. There’s also a couple of Darkhold’s and Strange’s broken watch!
2. Defender Strange
This one shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise as we’d already spotted Defender Strange in the earlier trailer. The ponytailed alt-universe Strange will likely be from a different multiverse. And his moniker—confirmed by an action figure—means in his world he was likely part of the comic book team known as the Defenders. You might know that name from the Marvel Netflix shows, but in the original lineup they consisted of Strange, Namor, Hulk, and the Silver Surfer. You can see him in the piece of mirror just to the left of Stephen’s head. We know it’s not normal Stephen as he has white stripes in his hair and his mustache doesn’t connect to his—in his universe—non-existent beard! There are also multiple Defender Stranges across the poster.
3. Captain Carter’s Shield
Down in the right hand corner this is one of the most obvious Easter eggs. Captain Carter’s shield played a huge part in What If…? and we had a feeling we might see it and her in the Multiverse of Madness. This seems to hint that theory was right. Strange and Captain Carter are already connected thanks to the events of that series, so this would make a lot of sense.
We’ve now even glimpsed the iconic shield in a recent Multiverse of Madness trailer.
4. Rintrah
On the left hand side just under that monstrous eye there’s the head of a Minotaur. Thanks to toy releases and the new trailer we can probably assume this is Rintrah. In the comics Rintrah is an interdimensional magical being from the planet R’Vaal. He has lived and worked with Doctor Strange in the comics, and in the trailer seems to be living in Kamar-Taj. It’s unclear here if this is a statue of him or a particularly detailed photo, but either way he’s there looking strong.
5. Frankenstrange
We don’t have an official name for the monstrous—potentially undead—version of Doctor Strange that appeared most clearly in the broadcast Super Bowl TV spot yet. So we’re calling him Frankenstrange. Under the left hand side of Strange’s flowing Cloak of Levitation you can see a sharp shard, which shows a face with a large cut above its eye. It looks a lot like that creepy monster version of Strange who makes a quick appearance at the end of the trailer.
6. Ultron / Ultron Robots
In the midst of the mirror breaking chaos, near the right hand center of the poster we can see a large gleaming piece of mirror. Within it there’s a robotic face that looks a lot like Ultron. What makes this egg more intriguing though is the fact that the new trailer shows Ultron-esque robots taking Strange to an intimidating new location. So is this James Spader’s killer cyber-villain? Or is it one of the new Ultron-looking robots from the trailer? We’ll have to wait and see.
7. Deadpool
This is the big one, kid! Yep, along with the trailer that seemed to reveal Patrick Stewart would be joining the MCU as Charles Xavier, it looks like we’ve got our first official look at Deadpool. This is a pretty clear image, and you can see it on the left hand center top of the poster. In the shard we see a reflection of Deadpool. It looks like a promo shot similar to the one where he has his finger over his mouth in a shush position. Do we think the Merc with a Mouth is going to be cracking wise to Stephen Strange? Probably not, but is Marvel Studios having a lot of fun now that the Multiverse has truly opened up… definitely!
8. Chthon
If you look above Stephen Strange’s head you may notice a sharp shard, which seems to stand out against the color palette. In it we see a strange creature, whose face seems to be made up of multiple layers of muscle. If we look to the Carnage comics from 2017—by Gerry Conway, Mike Perkins, Andy Troy, and Joe Sabino there is a version of the character Chthon who looks very similar to what we see in the poster. That would fit in to the Multiverse of Madness as Chthon is the creator of the Darkhold. We know that magical book will play a large part in this movie and the MCU going forward.
9. A New Photon / Captain Marvel Logo
On the left hand side of poster near the lower corner there’s an image that will immediately seem familiar to fans of Captain Marvel. It looks like a new version of the Mar-Vell, Captain Marvel, or in the MCU Nova Corps logo. We’re thinking it’ll likely be connected to Monica or Maria Rambeau. In the comics the former was the original Captain Marvel, and is now super powered in the MCU. Her mother Maria was Carol’s partner who we think may have been in the new trailer for Multiverse of Madness. If that is the case then it looks like in one universe it was Maria who got the Captain Marvel powers instead of Carol…
10. Stryfe’s Helmet
Seeing as we’re going all out X-Men here, this mask makes a lot of sense. It also makes us REALLY excited. On the left hand side of the poster, middle-low there’s a mask. It’s a silver mask with a rounded dome and spiked sides. If you’re a fan of the Summers Family—Scott, Alex, Nathan, Rachel, Gabriel, and more—then you’ll likely recognize the accessory. In the comics Stryfe is a clone of Nathan Summers A.K.A. Cable. In some of his forms he wears a mask that looks a lot like the one we see here, even if slightly more exaggerated. Seeing as there’s another Summers on this poster, this feels notable… it’s also ’90s AF and we are here for it!!
11. Cyclops
We’re getting into the weeds here, but this is our last not really that blurry one, so enjoy it. Up around the top left hand corner you can see a silvery shard. In it is what looks to be a screaming head with a visor on, a visor that I am here to argue looks a lot like Cyclops. We know Charles is back so this really isn’t that wild, especially if Charles is from a universe that has already been destroyed or had casualties from multiversal shenanigans. Perhaps this is the Charles who killed all his X-friends in Logan? Either way, Cyclops does not look happy here. But yay! Cyclops in the MCU, or at least on an MCU poster! What a time to be alive!
12. Loki
Sure, it’s more likely that Loki will turn up than Cyclops, but his appearance here is blurrier than the X-Men’s most serious boy so that’s why he’s lower on our list. Also this little sliver—which sits under Captain Carter’s shield—seems to show a different Loki. The gold headdress makes it clear that we’re seeing the God of Mischief, but it looks more like President Loki rather than the classic Tom Hiddleston version. That would make sense as we’re obviously dealing with variants here. Also the placement of this Loki shard next to what we think is a very thematically resonant one would back this up… but we’ll get to that at the end of the piece.
13. M.O.D.O.K.
Animation fans just saw the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing in Hulu’s show. And in this poster at the bottom right hand corner—truly an egg heaven—we think you can see a mini M.O.D.O.K. This is going just off his famed headdress, which appears to be visible here. Interestingly, this figure seems to appear again in another reflection. Also, just to cover our bases here, the blurry headdress shape could possibly evoke Nova… but we love M.O.D.O.K. so we’re sticking with it.
14. Movie Juggernaut
If you’ve ever seen X-Men: The Last Stand, then you likely can’t forget Vinnie Jones’ iconic turn as the Juggernaut and his famed line “I’m the Juggernaut, b****h!” We think that you can see him here, with a lot of zooming in on the bottom right hand side. His red helmet and his face are visible as well as a little of what might be his chest. This Easter egg leans into the recent reveal that Charles Xavier might be back in Multiverse of Madness, but we doubt the Fox iteration of the Juggernaut will be back on our screens anytime soon. And for that we are grateful.
15. The Mighty Thor
This is definitely the blurriest of our catches and therefore hits at the bottom of our list. Under the Captain Carter shield where there are a lot of little eggs, we can see a silvery mask. It looks really similar to the half-face mask that Jane Foster wears when she becomes the Mighty Thor. We know that Jane will be in Thor: Love and Thunder and will hold Mjölnir, so this isn’t a stretch. Though as it’s such a small and subjective catch, we’re not making any concrete claims.
So who will appear in the Multiverse of Madness? Do the appearance of characters previously licensed by Fox mean we’ll see them in the movie? Or is this poster just having fun with the Multiverse of it all?
We’ll have to wait until the movie hits on May 6 to find out!
Poster Key
If you’re wondering what on Earth we’re talking about we’ve made you this special poster key. Each number corresponds to a different shard / element of the poster. We’ve circled and numbered them below. Our tip would be for the best high quality, least pixelated zooming in experience use your phone rather than your computer! Most importantly have fun!!
Originally published on February 14, 2022.
Featured Image: Marvel Studios
