The following contains possible SPOILERS for Doctor Strange. STOP reading now if you do NOT want to be spoiled on the movie.
In the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury character provided the connective tissue between standalone Marvel movies, recruiting Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in two Iron Man movies and popping up to ease the mind of a freaked out Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger. Fury's still around, but if the latest rumor is to be believed, a classic Avenger is now playing the role of hero recruiter by cameoing in a few upcoming Marvel movies, including this November's Doctor Strange.
Take this information with a grain of salt, naturally, but MCUExchange has two very telling Tweets that suggest Robert Downey Jr. filmed a cameo for Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange, opening in theaters on November 4. The one that tips its hand immediately comes from Twitter user The Angry Ginger, exclaiming:
But how is this possible? Doctor Strange, by all accounts, wrapped filming months ago. Except, the MCUExchange also tracked down a Tweet from Strange co-star Benedict Wong, who plays Stephen Strange's cohort in the movie. And on August 15, he shared with his followers:
Just wrapped, eh? That suggests that Benedict Wong had additional scenes to shoot. Reshoots? Very possible. But paired with the scoop from the Ginger, and it suggests that Tony Stark may appear in a mid- or end-credits sequence.
What do I imagine might happen? You can start to do the math on the overall MCU and come up with a standard educated guess. We know for certain that Tony Stark will be part of Spider-Man: Homecoming, taking place in New York City (Queens, to be specific). We also know that by the end of the origin story of Doctor Strange, the powerful sorcerer will take up residence at his Sanctum Santorum, located in Manhattan. Connect the dots, and we can assume that Tony Stark will appear in the credits of Doctor Strange, showing up at his headquarters and letting him know that his actions have caught the eye of The Avengers (which Tony is in charge of, at the end of Captain America: Civil War), and that they need to discuss... the Infinity Stone that Strange is holding?
OK, just a guess.
All of this makes complete sense. Stark is the leader of The Avengers at the moment, but he's VERY short on heroes, with Rhodey (Don Cheadle) partially paralyzed, Vision (Paul Bettany) emotionally stunted and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) on the fence. He can go after Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in the run up to the Avengers: Infinity War, and Marvel can keep developing its Phase Three -- looking ahead to Phase Four.
Also, we'll get two Sherlocks on screen, and that's enough to make a film geek smile.
What do you think? Possible, or a smoke screen? We'll know for sure when Doctor Strange opens on November 4, but for now, weigh in below with your thoughts.
