What If…?: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 4
By Mike McNulty
Shuma-Gorath returns?
“What If… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?” featured a giant tentacle monster coming out of a trans-dimensional portal. Now we have yet what is, perhaps, that same giant tentacle monster coming out of a different trans-dimensional portal in this episode. Perhaps this giant tentacle monster really is the MCU version of Shuma-Gorath after all? Or, at the very least, one of the Great Old Ones, a.k.a. the Many Angled Ones of H.P. Lovecraft stories and his “Cthulhu mythos.”
In any case, now that this thing has shown up more than once (and probably helped to drive Strange into inadvertently destroying his entire universe), it’s very likely that we’ll be seeing more of this thing pop up in other What If…? episodes, or even other MCU movies. It’s certainly refueled the rumors that Shuma-Gorath will appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Strange Supreme
As this version of Doctor Strange pursues his mad quest to prevent Christine’s death, he also undergoes a wardrobe change, including a different Cloak of Levitation he takes off of an oversized cockroach as he absorbs various beings. Thing is, that Cloak of Levitation looks a lot more accurate to the one Doctor Strange wears in the comics than the one he wears in the movies. Although the color schemes are different, both the comics’ Cloak of Levitation and “Strange Supreme’s” cloak have the same style of collar and gold trim around the edge.
Likewise, Strange Supreme’s wardrobe, while also a different color combination, is also identical in style to what Doctor Strange wears in the comics, too. In fact, the chest pattern on his tunic and the sash around his waist are exact matches.
Strange, in the comics, also encountered various “evil twins” of himself over the years. The most prominent of these was the Necromancer, a version of Doctor Strange from a planet opposite from the Earth sharing the same orbit around the Sun called “Counter-Earth.” Unlike our Doctor Strange, this version became the Sorcerer Supreme by killing Baron Mordo in order to avenge the murder of the Ancient One. Also, this version of Strange took over Counter-Earth until he wound up trapped in the embodiment of Eternity – sort of like how Strange Supreme winds up trapped and alone in the Mirror Dimension after destroying his universe at the end of this episode.
One other similarity to the comics’ Doctor Strange and Strange Supreme? Strange attempted to use his magic to bring his younger brother, Victor, back to life. Unfortunately, this is what ended up turning Strange’s brother into Baron Blood in the first place. At least he didn’t wind up destroying his entire universe.