‘Krypton’ Drops a Doctor Strange Reference in "The Word of Rao"

Tonight's episode of Krypton, "The Word of Rao", saw major developments in Brainiac's plan to assimilate Krypton as well as some dramatic turns for Seg-El and his friends. However, even with the high-stakes the episode still has plenty of moving moments and one very interesting reference to Doctor Strange.

Spoilers for tonight's episode of Krypton, "The Word of Rao", below.

Last week's episode left off with Rohm (Alexis Raben) overtaken as one of Brainiac's sentries. While Seg (Cameron Cuffe) is able to disable Brainiac's control over her and get her to the Fortress, Rohm's condition is grave, and she is not expected to survive. Despite this, Val-El (Ian McElhinney) and Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos) continued to look for a solution to the situation. At one point, Val and Adam are alone in the Fortress with Rohm and, in conversation, Val refers to Adam as Mr. Strange. Adam is quick to correct him -- his father is Mr. Strange, as was a "weird kid" in school who apparently had a thing for feet -- and then suggested that Val call him "Doctor Strange". A beat later, Adam reconsiders that and tells him Adam is fine.

As comic book fans know, DC Comics doesn't really have a Doctor Strange -- though a Doc Strange who originated in Better Publications/Nedor Comics in 1940 and later appeared in Vertigo's 2013 limited series Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril. Doctor Strange is firmly part of the Marvel universe and is set to be a major player in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. That's likely why Adam quickly corrected himself and decided his given name was fine. However, the idea of a Strange in DC Comics who could hold an academic doctorate does exit.

In comics, Adam Strange has been presented as an archaeologist by trade which suggests some significant level of education. Also, DC Comics does have a Hugo Strange in its roster as well. That Strange is a supervillain and frequently an antagonist of Batman. Hugo Strange has been shown as many things over the years, from scientist to psychiatrist to professor. In Justice League Unlimited, the character is directly referred to as Dr. Hugo Strange and is definitely not someone Adam Strange would want to be mistaken for.

As for Val and Adam's conversation, it's cut short when Rohm suddenly regains consciousness long enough to plead with Adam to stop Ona (Tipper Seifert-Cleveland). Rohm dies before she can elaborate as to why, though audiences discover that soon enough. Ona, to honor her mother, gives her idol of Rao as an offering to the Voice of Rao. In turn, the Voice gave her rank and recruited her as one of his disciples. Later, alone in his chambers, the Voice ponders the idol only for a Brainiac parasite to explode from it and overtake him.

Did you catch the Doctor Strange reference in tonight's episode? Let us know your favorite part of "The Word of Rao" in comments!

Krypton airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Syfy.