Doctor Strange Director Surprised No One Caught Contact Easter Egg In Film Before Now

Is it possible that Doctor Strange made a pretty subtle visual reference to Contact (1997)? They’re incredibly similar. from r/marvelstudios

Scott Derrickson is a film fanatic, which might be the reason why his film's are clearly made with a passionate, unique thumbprint. After directing Doctor Strange, fans picked apart his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut for Easter eggs, catching dozens in their efforts. However, there is one Easter egg which has managed to stay under the radar since the film's 2017 release -- a nod to 1997's Contact.

In Doctor Strange, the Ancient On educates Stephen Strange about the powers he is capable of if he will simply open his eye probably. Her first lesson called for sending his soul through many dimensions. In the film, one of the transitions from one dimension to another is a direct homage to a similar moment from Homage in which Jodie Foster travels from one location to another in an instant. The two versions of the interdimensional travel can be seen in the video above.

Derrickson, who is returning to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for 2021, confirmed the homage on Twitter. "Yep it was deliberate," Derrickson said. "Surprised it took this long for anyone to notice." He went on to describe to homage more thoroughly in another tweet: "That sequence in Contact was so far ahead of its time. I remember seeing it at the Mann's Chinese Theater and literally feeling like I was gonna have a heart attack. Such amazing filmmaking."

Check out the tweets from Derrickson in the thread below...

Yep it was deliberate. Surprised it took this long for anyone to notice.

— N O S ⋊ Ɔ I ᴚ ᴚ Ǝ ᗡ ⊥ ⊥ O Ɔ S (@scottderrickson) August 19, 2019

Moving forward, the interdimensional travel will likely only continue. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will likelyy expand on a thread falsely introduced in Spider-Man: Far From Home. The latest Spider-Man movie opened up the possibility of a Marvel Multiverse, and it seems that Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch will explore it further in 2021. It's possible updates for the upcoming film come as soon as the D23 Expo on Saturday.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, What If? In Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released on May 7, 2021.