10 Reactions To Doctor Who: The Return Of Doctor Mysterio
1. Where's Steven Moffat When You Need Him?
The cinematic influences behind The Return of Doctor
Mysterio extend well beyond the obvious shout outs to the Superman movies starring
Christopher Reeves. Although the whole tone is in many ways a deliberate
eschewing of the more recent darker Superhero movies from both the Marvel and
DC camps, there are still nonetheless a number of references to the ever
popular genre.
For instance, the Doctor makes a coded jibe at Doctor Strange when he claims he is the original ‘Doctor’, a point echoed in real life by Capaldi when he speculated that the Doctor would hate Doctor Strange for stealing his look. A shot of a pizza bar is a reminder of the Toby Maguire Spiderman movies, and the powerful gemstone glowing inside the young Grant is another recognisable image from the Marvel universe.
But one can’t help thinking Steven Moffat missed a trick here by not making a cameo appearance, ala Stan Lee, as a caretaker or innocent bystander. Perhaps if this was his final episode at the helm he might have gone for it, but as the showrunner is at pains to remind everyone, he still has work to do on Doctor Who.
Perhaps Steven Moffat didn’t need to make a cameo because this was on one level, his story. After all, like Grant, his childhood dream did come true because of the Doctor. From a touching photograph of the young Moffat reading a Target Doctor Who novelisation, to taking on the great power and responsibility of spearheading the show, the Doctor has had a remarkable impact on his life. Even after he hands over the baton to Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who will always be a part of him.