The Eye of Agamotto. Marvel Comics fans will know that this is the name given to the amulet worn around the neck of Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), the Sorcerer Supreme. The eye itself is a mystical device used by whomever is holding the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme, with Strange using it as a mystical conduit. But in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, could the new Eye of Agamotto serve a different purpose?
Earlier this year, we were able to visit the set of Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange, the fourteenth Marvel movie and an origin story for this powerful sorcerer. Given time with Marvel President Kevin Feige, we asked if Doctor Strange would contain any references to the Infinity Stones -- powerful gems sought after by Thanos (Josh Brolin). And Feige told us:
If you are tracking such things, perhaps -- but we don't get into it in this movie, because again, we've got... there's a lot to take in, in this movie. There are a lot of new concepts, a lot of new characters. There's a lot of new mythologies that we didn't want to clutter it up by talking about other MacGuffins.
The "perhaps" has us staying up nights, speculating. Why? Because there are precious few movies left before Avengers: Infinity War to figure out where the rest of the unclaimed Infinity Stones in Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet may be. You might think that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 would be dedicated to Thanos and the Stones, but James Gunn has sworn up and down that his movie has no Stones. Thor left Earth at the end of Age of Ultron to look into the Stones that have caused such headaches for the Avengers, so Ragnarok likely will address where some of them might be... and where they came from.
Two of the six Infinity Stones have not been discovered in the MCU, to date. The Soul Stone and the Time Stone are up for grabs. If we had to guess, we'd think that Doctor Strange unlocking portals and surfing mystical dimensions would harness the power of the Time Stone... but we might be wrong.
So what do you think? Is Kevin Feige throwing some misdirection our way? Or will Doctor Strange be so focused on the task at hand, setting up the origin of the mighty Marvel sorcerer, that the Stones will be saved for one of the 2017 Marvel movies? It's possible that Guardians and Thor handle such business. But then again, there is that Eye of Agamotto.
Doctor Strange opens everywhere on November 4.
