Concept artist Jerad S. Marantz has taken to Instagram to share some previously unseen images of a squid-like creature that almost made an appearance opposite Tony Stark in last year’s Avengers: Infinity War.
According to Marantz, this monstrous being was supposed to show up in a scene of Iron Man speaking with Doctor Strange as the two of them walk the halls of the Sanctum. The plan was for the character to offer Tony some tea, hence the cups it’s holding in the images below. In response, Tony would’ve delivered the callback line, “I don’t like to be handed things.”
Marantz also mentioned that he’s unsure if the scene was intended for Infinity War or Endgame, though we can probably assume it was the former, seeing how Stephen Strange and Tony are never seen in New York at the same time in the latter.
In any case, though the unnamed squid creature was ultimately cut from Avengers: Infinity War, there’s always the possibility that it will make its debut somewhere down the line.
After all, the New York Sanctum remains one of the MCU’s key locations, and while Iron Man is now out of the picture, Doctor Strange still has a busy future ahead of him. And besides, in times of crisis, who wouldn’t want a tentacled beast on hand to serve cups of tea to busy heroes?
In all likelihood, Benedict Cumberbatch’s next big screen outing as the Sorcerer Supreme will be Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is scheduled to hit theaters on May 7th, 2021. In the meantime, Marvel’s Phase 4 kicks off with the release of the long-awaited Black Widow solo movie on May 1st, 2020.