With Avengers: Infinity War being hailed as Marvel Studios’ most ambitious outing to date, it’s no surprise that details hidden in the movie continue to surface in months after the movie’s release in theatres.
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On the digital release of the movie — which came out a just under a week ago — the movie’s writers confirmed that one of Doctor Strange‘s (Benedict Cumberbatch) spells is a deep cut from comics featuring the Sorcerer Supreme.
“Are those the Bands of Cyttorak that we decided?” Infinity War co-writer Stephen McFeely asked on the movie’s commentary track.
Christopher Markus, doing his best Doctor Strange impression, confirmed his colleague’s thoughts.
“Those are the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.”
The scene in question takes place on Titan when the group stranded there tries taking Thanos (Josh Brolin) down.
For fans of the Sorcerer Supreme — and more directly, Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange (2016) — this is an interesting development as the mythical item had supposedly appeared in a much different form.
As Strange fought Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) in the New York Sanctum Sanctorum during Doctor Strange, the Cloak of Levitation eventually convinced Strange to use a mysterious metal contraption on the wall. When used, the contraption locked Kaecilius into a position that he was unable to move. Although serving the same purpose of its comic book counterpart, the metallic contraption was certainly a different take on the ancient spell.
But now, with confirmation from Markus and McFeely, it appears that the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak have been retconned into a spell cast by Doctor Strange — much like they are in the comics — rather than an actual device used.
One of Doctor Strange’s first spells, the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak first appeared in Strange Tales #125 in October 1964. In the comics, the Crimson Bands are commonly used by Stephen Strange to bind larger foes such as Juggernaut or the Incredible Hulk.
It’s not necessarily a spell that’s exclusive to Strange either. In the case of Uncanny X-Men #191, Scarlet Witch was also able to summon the bands.
Were you excited to see the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak in Infinity War? What other classic Doctor Strange spells would you like to see at the Marvel Cinematic Universe progresses forward? Let us know in the comments below!
Avengers: Infinity War is now available on digital HD and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on Aug. 14. Ant-Man and The Wasp is in theaters now.
Other Marvel projects coming soon include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019; the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019; Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019; and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.
