The Magical Relics of DOCTOR STRANGE

One thing the Doctor Strange movie was pretty good at was dropping random Easter eggs that hint at or allude to the greater aspects of the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A lot of these Easter eggs came in the form of relics, the magical items employed by different sorcerers to channel and utilise magical energy. With that in mind, I figured it best to look into these relics and any characters that might be associated with them, as well as whether we might see them pop up again in the near future. So, let’s start with the most likely of those!

THE STAFF OF ONE

The Staff of One will more than likely play a part in the upcoming Runaways TV series on Hulu. The wielder of the Staff as seen in Doctor Strange is Tina Minoru, mother of Nico Minoru, a key member of the Runaways team. Both characters will be appearing in the show when it hits our screens in 2018. We don’t know a lot about the plot yet, but given that we saw Tina Minoru with the staff in both the Doctor Strange prelude comics and the movie, it’s more than likely that it will play something of a role in the show. In regards to the staff itself, it’s capable of casting any magical spell once, after there having been a blood offering made to it. Whether or not this will be the case in the MCU is questionable at best, as it seems to possess innate power from the moment Tina picks it up off the weapons rack in Doctor Strange.

THE WAND OF WATOOMB

In the comics, there are six Wands of Watoomb, all coming from different dimensions. In regards to powers, the Wand of Watoomb is capable of absorbing magical energy and using it to fire energy blasts, create shields, and even heal people’s injuries. Whether or not these kinds of abilities apply to the MCU counterpart are again up for debate, as Wong seems only to wield it as a melee weapon. However, the energy it emits upon him picking it up suggest some degree of magical capability. We’re yet to see any display of such ability, much like with the Staff of One. If there’s anything worth noting about either of these artefacts, it’s the fact that both of them are aglow with orange energy, something that ties into my overall theory about the nature of magic in the MCU. Watoomb is one of the Magical Principalities, or at least an entity who governs over one of them: specifically weather. Whether or not an entity like Watoomb will ever actually show up is debatable, but it all depends on whether we see the likes of Eternity show up in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War.

VALTORR

The Vaulting Boots of Valtorr, which are worn by Karl Mordo in the movie, aren’t a thing in the comics but the Vapors of Valtorr are a favoured conjuring of the good doctor’s. Much like Watoomb, Valtorr is another entity who governs over the Magical Principalities: in his case air. The boots may well be a totem of Valtorr’s, just as the Wand of Watoomb is a totem of his, and the fact they allow the wearer to essentially walk on air is quite supportive of that notion. Again, I doubt we’ll see Valtorr show up and he’s limited to the land of reference, just like Watoomb.

THE LIVING TRIBUNAL

The Living Tribunal is one of the most powerful entities of the Marvel Universe, essentially acting as judge, jury and executioner over the other cosmic entities. His job is to oversee the universe and ensure that the cosmic balance is maintained. In other words, he makes sure none of the cosmic entities over-step their boundaries. When they do, it’s down to him to put a stop to them. The Staff of the Living Tribunal isn’t something that exists in the comics, much like the boots of Valtorr, but there may be something to its presence in Doctor Strange. It’s possible that the Living Tribunal is dead, as he currently is in the comics, which would mean that imbalances in the cosmic order of things could very easily get out of hand. This is another thing that plays into my grander theory about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but if you want to hear more on that, you’ll have to wait just a little while longer.

That’s about all there is to it. A few allusions to some cosmic entities and a possible plot point for an upcoming TV show. However, I assure you that the Living Tribunal thing, if brought up later, is a big deal. With that, thanks for reading and if you fancy leaving a comment, feel free to do so. Were there any Easter eggs you spotted in the movie that you think might play an important role down the line? If you enjoyed this, then be sure to check out some of my other Doctor Strange related pieces!

 

Magic In DOCTOR STRANGE; Do The Colours Mean Anything?

With just over three months to go until Doctor Strange hits theaters, I figured I’d turn my attention to the main selling point of the movie: the introduction of magic into the MCU. What we’ve heard so far is that the magic we’ll be seeing in Doctor Strange cannot be scientifically explained, unlike Asgardian “magic”. In that regard we’re left to question how it will be explained if at all. Well, now that there’ve been two trailers for the movie and we’ve seen a fair bit of magic in use, I’ve come to something of a conclusion in regards to what magic is derived from in the MCU.

So far in the trailers, whenever we’ve seen a spell being cast or magic being used, only two colours have been prevalent. Those being green and orange. These colours correlate to two of the six Infinity Stones; Time and Soul respectively. The green magic we’ve seen tends to be shown manipulating reality, with the Eye of Agamotto lending a hand in that endeavour. Speculation leans toward the Eye of Agamotto being the Time Stone. Another thing to note is that the runes produced when spells are being cast are reminiscent of shapes relating to extra-dimensional space. Given that they Eye of Agamotto can “screw with time”, it’s likely that these runes are indicative of the alternate dimensions we’re likely to be seeing in this movie. On top of that though, it’s possible that magic in the MCU is all derived from the energies of Infinity Stones. If this is the case, then we may see spells of purple, red, blue or yellow colour in the movie too. In fact, the astral form we see of Stephen Strange has a yellow tint to it and that may well link into the Mind Stone. After all, it grants Vision the ability to be incorporeal, why not do the same for Doctor Strange?

The orange spells we’ve seen seem to relate to the physical world. The teleportation portals we see are like orange rings of fire. We saw a brief glimpse of a whip-like orange spell being used by Doctor Strange in the second trailer. Given that the Soul Stone seems to be heavily related to the actual physical make-up of the MCU’s reality, more-so than the Reality Stone, then it’s likely that these are spells designed to function specifically on this plane of existence as it is governed by Light (detailed in earlier speculation pieces).

So to boil it down, the spells seem to relate to at least two of the Infinity Stones and their respective properties. If this is the case for two of them, it may well be the case that all the spells relate to particular Infinity Stones or at least the energies associated with them.