Doctor Strange
“Doctor Strange,” starring Tilda Swinton and Benedict Cumberbatch, may have had a “Captain Marvel” Easter egg. Marvel

Scott Derrickson has addressed rumors about a possible “Captain Marvel” Easter egg. However, the “Doctor Strange” director wouldn’t confirm or deny that the psychedelic Marvel movie teases the origins of Carol Danvers.

At the beginning of the new film, Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is hearing about potential patients. One possibility is a 22-year-old woman who was struck by lightning. The new injury affects the electronic implant in her brain that subdues her schizophrenia. There are plenty of fans online who suspect that this is Carol Danvers (Brie Larson).

Empire asked Derrickson about the possible Easter egg, and he didn’t deny the “Captain Marvel” connection — but he didn’t confirm it either. “All I can is...maybe. That one, you're going to have to wait and see...” he said.

He also didn’t let anything slip to Entertainment Weekly, who posed the same question. “Remember that Brittany Murphy movie where she goes ‘I’ll never tell…’” he said. EW noted that he was smiling while he said it.

If this is Carol’s new origin story, it’s a big departure from the comics. The source material showed her coming into contact with a powerful Kree device called a Psyche-Magnitron, according to Marvel Database. The incident altered Carol’s human DNA and gave her superpowers.

As previously reported, “Captain Marvel” screenwriter Nicole Pearlman, who also wrote “Guardians of the Galaxy,” revealed that the superhero’s origin story would have to change from the comic books. She said the storyline is a little too close to one particular DC Comics story.

“She’s obviously such an incredibly kick a-- character and Kelly Sue DeConnick did a great run with her story arc recently,” Perlman told the Any Time with Vin Forte podcast in August. “But here’s the thing: if you were just going to do a straight adaptation of the comics, her origin story is very similar to Green Lantern. And obviously, that’s not what we want to do. So there’s a lot of reinvention that needs to happen.”

Could that reinvention include a lightning strike and a schizophrenia-controlling implant? Fans will have to wait a while to find out. “Captain Marvel” won’t hit theaters until March 8, 2019.

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