Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness looks set to be one of the most important chapters in the MCU’s Phase 4. The title promises that, at long last, the franchise will dive into the wider Marvel multiverse for the first time and as well as providing us with lots of exciting cameos from historic superhero stars, this could also change the shape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a major way. For instance, is this how the X-Men and the Fantastic Four will be introduced?
That’s what one report is pointing towards. According to Giant Freakin Robot’s intel, Doctor Strange 2 will bring together a new super team pulled from the comics and its roster will be made up of faces not yet seen in the franchise. We’re talking about the Illuminati, the inner secret circle of Avengers comprised of the most financially, intellectually or politically powerful heroes around. As per GFR, the MCU’s Illuminati will consist of Strange, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Mr. Fantastic and Professor X.
That’s almost all the core members of the group from the comics, excluding Iron Man, who can’t feature in this version for obvious reasons, as well as the Inhumans’ Black Bolt, who’s being rebooted but not just yet. It’s easy to speculate that the threat to the entire multiverse leads the Master of the Mystic Arts to assemble this superhero council to deduce a way to combat it. But will these characters come from other realities, or be treated as if they’ve always been around the MCU and we just haven’t met them before?
Given everything we know about the movie – which will also include Scarlet Witch, Nightmare, Clea, Miss America and more – it’s hard to imagine how it’ll be able to balance all these elements and still have Stephen Strange at the heart of it. We’re hoping that Sam Raimi is going to deliver another Spider-Man 2 and not another Spider-Man 3, though, and with any luck, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will turn out to be a home run for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
