During Doctor Strange‘s mid-credits scene, Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder made a surprise appearance to ask for help. Directed by Taika Waititi, it was clear that it was setting up something for Thor: Ragnarok, but we could only really hazard a guess as to what that might be (even after the Sorcerer Supreme’s return was confirmed).
Ahead of his win at the Golden Globes last night, Tom Hiddleston was asked to weigh on Doctor Strange making his presence felt in the next Thor film and confirmed that the character played by Benedict Cumberbatch will be helping the two Asgardians track down Odin after Loki took his place at the end of Thor: The Dark World.
“Doctor Strange has intensely cerebral time-bending powers. At the end of Thor: The Dark World, Loki’s on the throne…what happened to Odin? So, maybe Doctor Strange has to help out with that particular conundrum.”
That makes a lot of sense, and may confirm that Cumberbatch has a relatively small role in Thor: Ragnarok. After all, with so much already going on in this movie, Doctor Strange having more than an extended cameo always seemed unlikely, though you have to believe that his appearance here will still go some way in setting up his return in Avengers: Infinity War.
Obviously, though, the biggest priority for Marvel will be focusing on the battle between Thor and the Hulk (and their possible team-up), so chances are we won’t see Strange factor into the marketing at all for the threequel. If that’s the case, we unfortunately won’t know the extent of his Thor: Ragnarok role until the movie’s released this November.