Even when the Avengers aren’t saving the world together, the Marvel Cinematic Universe enjoys pairing its different heroes together, be it in cameos (Bruce Banner at the end of Iron Man 3) or more significant roles (Black Widow and Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier). Now thanks to a new picture on social media, we’re wondering if in next year’s Doctor Strange, another MCU newcomer Spider-Man might peek his head in briefly.
Earlier today, Marvel co-president Louis D’Esposito posted this photo on Twitter of him on the Doctor Strange set with director Scott Derrickson and new Spider-Man actor Tom Holland. While seeing three of Marvel’s top talent together is nice by itself, it does beg the question if Marvel is sneaking a Spider-Man cameo.
As weird as it may seem, seeing these two heroes together wouldn’t be unprecedented. Doctor Strange and Spider-Man have frequently teamed up together in the comics, such as in 1965’s Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 or the Sorcerer Supreme frequently appearing during writer J. Michael Straczynski’s run of Amazing Spider-Man. The good Doctor has even guest starred on the shows Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Ultimate Spider-Man. Plus, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange are both New York City-based, so it wouldn’t be impossible for Spidey to stop by the Sanctum Sanctorum to interact with the Sorcerer Supreme.
Granted, given that Doctor Strange is exploring Stephen Strange’s mystical origins, there’s almost no way Spider-Man would play a huge role in the movie akin to Thor and Hulk teaming up in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok. If anything, we could just see Spidey swinging by as Doctor Strange goes about his business, or maybe Peter Parker is one of the many spectators witnessing Doctor Strange’s battle with Baron Mordo or another enemy. All this being said, it’s also possible that this is an ol’ fashioned case of Occam's razor and it is simply what it looks like on the surface: a Marvel star who’s checking out what’s happening in a separate movie. Since Holland lives in the UK, maybe D’Esposito called him and asked if he wanted to take a stroll around the Doctor Strange set.
Although Doctor Strange obviously takes place in the MCU, few connections have been established to his corner of it. He was mentioned as one of HYDRA’s targets in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the Quantum Realm seen in Ant-Man is one of the many alternate dimensions that he can travel to using his sorcery. So including a Spider-Man cameo would add another connective thread, though it clearly wouldn’t be crucial to the story. Even if Spidey doesn’t appear in Doctor Strange, he’ll still get to leave his mark on 2016 debuting in Captain America: Civil War, and a year later, he’ll swing back into theaters in his solo movie.
With our without our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Doctor Strange will be released on November 4, 2016.
