8 Ways Doctor Strange Is Basically The New Iron Man

4. Doctor Strange Is A Perfect Starting Point For Newcomers

Doctor Strange Benedict Cumberbatch
Marvel Studios

One of the best, yet worst things about Doctor Strange is how unbelievably separate it is from the rest of the Marvel universe. Besides brief mentions of the Avengers, the Infinity Stones and a quick shot of the Avengers tower, there isn't anything to suggest that the movie takes place in that same world.

And, again, you can't shake the feeling that this was Marvel's intent from the very beginning.

If Doctor Strange is indeed the character that's set to anchor the MCU for the next decade, then his first movie needs to be as universally-appealing as possible - and heaps of in-jokes, references and connections to the other superheroes is not the way to do that. After all, not everyone watches every Marvel movie, and not everyone understands every nod.

This 'standalone' factor mirrors Iron Man to a tee. Granted, that was the very first movie the studio pumped out so it could hardly be packed full of Easter Eggs, but its ability to tell a self-contained story focused on just one hero helped audiences connect with Stark almost instantaneously, and Doctor Strange, because of how easy it is to watch if you don't consume every morsel that Marvel has to offer, is likely to affect audiences in the same way.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!