The Spider-Man Easter Egg You Probably Missed In Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
Contains spoilers for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"
It's been a wild year in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with TV shows like "WandaVision," "Loki," and "What If...?" paving the way for the Multiverse to crack reality wide open in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Although the intention is to introduce alternate versions of classic heroes and villains, there are tragic stories at the heart of these grand adventures — and the "Doctor Strange" sequel is no different.
The film sees the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) struggling to cope after losing her children in "WandaVision" and desperately wanting to find another universe where she can be with them. In doing so, she dabbles in dark magic while hunting the superpowered America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who has the ability to punch her way between universes.
Thankfully, the young hero has Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to protect her, and their journey across the Multiverse takes them to some wildly different universes. Although most of their time is spent on Earth-838, which is where they meet Professor X (Patrick Stewart), the rest of the Illuminati, and a variant of Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), they first tumble through several other realities — each with its own unique visual style — including a prehistoric world, an underwater universe, and even one where they're made entirely of paint. But the scene also hides a surprising blink-and-you'll-miss-it "Spider-Man" Easter egg.
The Stark drone
Although Strange briefly name-drops Spider-Man when discussing his experience with the Multiverse, the film doesn't really address the events of "Spider-Man: No Way Home." No, don't worry — you didn't miss a sneaky cameo from Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, or Andrew Garfield. Instead, there's a surprising Easter egg in a sleek, futuristic universe that shows up midway through that psychedelic leap through alternate realities.
It's not exactly clear where they are within that version of Earth, but it looks highly advanced — almost to the point where it has an industrial feel to it. On the left-hand side of the screen, a drone flies past the two Multiversal travelers — and it has the exact same design as the Stark Industries drones used by Peter Parker (Holland) and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) in "Spider-Man: Far from Home."
The drones play a key part in Spidey's MCU story because after Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) death, he passes Peter the keys to artificial intelligence called EDITH, which also grants him access to satellite weapons and an army of drones. And although Peter had learned to become a more responsible hero since "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and even becomes an Avenger in "Avengers: Infinity War," Tony clearly wasn't thinking when he decided to give a teenager that sort of power.
Anyway, these drones ultimately cause chaos and destruction at the hands of Mysterio, even killing Mysterio himself. As we all know, the villain posthumously leaks Peter's identity to the world while blaming him for his death. So it's a little surprising that one of the universes shows the drone flying around a futuristic world. What does it all mean?
Spider-Man 2099? Is that you?
We'll try not to get too excited here, but a "Spider-Man" Easter egg in a futuristic setting instantly makes us think of "Spider-Man 2099." As you may have guessed, his story is set at the end of the century, long after the Avengers of old have all died or disappeared and New York has become a dystopian nightmare that wouldn't look out of place in "Blade Runner." Built on the ruins of the old city, the bustling metropolis is called Nueva York, and it is home to an incredibly powerful sinister corporation called Alchemax. Miguel O'Hara, a geneticist working at the company, winds up having his genes rewritten with a spider's DNA by accident — and quickly suits up as Spider-Man 2099 to fight the injustices committed by his own employer.
Now, the reference in "Multiverse of Madness" probably means nothing in the grand scheme of things — it's just an inventive look at another universe that uses familiar imagery for fans to recognize — but it would be very, very cool to see Spider-Man 2099 in live action. Thankfully, the futuristic web-slinger is already heading to the big screen in 2023's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" — and Oscar Isaac is reprising the role after voicing him in the post-credits scene of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse."
But this sequence is another reason why "Multiverse of Madness" is so refreshing: It allows Marvel to really get creative with its visuals and its storytelling rather than sticking to its often generic-looking action scenes.