There will be spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness everywhere you look, so avert your eyes if you haven’t been initiated into the Illuminati.
One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most popular hybrids of the fan and conspiracy theory is the belief that the real villain of the Infinity Saga wasn’t Thanos at all, but Tony Stark. To be fair, it makes a great deal of sense when you consider how many villains and/or disastrous happenings can be traced back to the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist.
Either directly or indirectly, the late Iron Man was responsible for Justin Hammer, Whiplash, Obadiah Stane, Baron Zemo, Aldrich Killian, Vulture, Mysterio, and Ultron wreaking havoc, as well as Wanda and Pietro Maximoff’s stint on the side of evil, while even Jamie Foxx’s Electro in Spider-Man: No Way Home ended up harnessing the power of an arc reactor.
Whether it’s a deliberate nod towards that notion or not, fans have noticed that the Ultron Bots created by John Krasinski’s Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are doing exactly what they were created to do, and not forming a collective hive mind with designs on taking over the world.
Everything bad that happened to the Avengers could be traced back to Tony in a roundabout way, but the smartest man to own a company specializing in advanced technology in Multiverse of Madness‘ alternate reality didn’t seem to have a problem with his creations rebelling against him.
If anything, things were going swimmingly in the universe inhabited by Krasinski’s Fantastic Four founder, at least until Wanda Maximoff turned up and turned everyone into a pile of blood and goo.
