Every Doctor Strange Easter Egg And Reference In The MCU (So Far)

4. Project Insight Finds Stephen Strange - The Winter Soldier

The most overt reference to the Sorcerer Supreme came back in 2014 with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. When quizzed about Project Insight, which would allow Hydra to identify and instantaneously pacify anyone who'd threaten their dominance, Agent Sitwell listed a few of the key targets and, along with Bruce Banner and a TV anchor in Cairo (Moon Knight reference?), he name-dropped Stephen Strange.

While this at first may seem to suggest the Doctor was already active in the universe, Kevin Feige came out and said that wasn't the case. Project Insight's goal was to pacify both existing and future threats, and Stephen just fell into the latter; given how extreme Zola's algorithm was, an arrogant surgeon was a target regardless of powers.

This was the first time a reference had been made with the explicit goal of setting up a movie, rather than vague seeding; Doctor Strange has been officially confirmed to be coming to the MCU a year before The Winter Soldier was released. It wasn't the last time though.