Pieces Of The Overall Puzzle
Thus far, several of the Infinity Stones have surfaced in other Marvel films. Loki’s scepter was revealed as the Mind Stone and the The Orb in Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be the Power Stone. Marvel’s higher-ups have teased that the other orbs will turn up in future films. And the Doctor Strange solo shot, otherwise largely unconnected to the Avengers/Captain America films, could provide a key link to the overall thread of the MCU before and after its release.
Since Strange’s standalone is slated for release less-than two years before the first chapter of Infinity Wars hits theaters, the Time Stone could be the very artifact which launches Thanos’ final quest to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet. The events in Strange’s film could theoretically kickstart the amalgamated superhero conflict, even though it’s still a couple years off.
[zergpaid]Assuming each film contains a piece of the overall puzzle, which knowing what we do about Marvel’s relatively careful continuity, they ought to, then the scads of Easter eggs and teasers strewn throughout the MCU would make Doctor Strange’s outing highly relevant to the overall storyline.
With only five more films (one of them being a sequel) before Infinity Wars Part 1, the overall puzzle should be filling out quite nicely for the imminent cosmic clash. And, given everything we know so far, it wouldn’t be too surprising to find Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange at the center of it all.