12 Biggest Retcons In The Marvel Cinematic Universe
10. Why Stephen Strange Was On Zola's Algorithm
One of the coolest things about the MCU is how it seeds future films in the most offhand way, often years before a character debuts. Back in Iron Man 2 in 2010, there was a screen in S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ at the end that showed a point of interest over Africa, an early nod to Black Panther, a character who wouldn't appear for another six years (and whose own movie wouldn't arrive for two after that).
Another interesting early hint was the citing of Stephen Strange as one of the targets of Zola's algorithm in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. At the time, a Doctor Strange movie was yet to be scheduled, so it was a massive deal, bringing the Sorcerer Supreme into the MCU fold and suggesting he'd already been doing his mystical thing for a while (so no origin!).
However, that turns out not to be the case. As seen in the Doctor Strange trailer, that movie is indeed an origin story and like most Marvel films it's set in the year of release, which means Dr Stephen was only ever a target because of his excellent surgeon skills, which the pointed name-check certainly didn't suggest.
Kevin Feige's actually come out and plainly stated this lacklustre conclusion to stop fans speculating, which is really rather disappointing.