If you thought that Marvel would take a breather after the madness of No Way Home, you thought wrong. The second trailer of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness promises the most outlandish Marvel outing yet. Besides teasing the return of old characters and hinting at the entry of new ones, the trailer gives light to a gazillion possible theories that could provide comic book fanatics with a dopamine overdose. My Kolkata examines a few:
The Illuminati are in the MCU
The Illuminati is a secret society of superheroes Marvel.com
It is impossible to have not let out an embarrassingly loud reaction upon hearing Patrick Stewart’s baritone in the trailer. Confirming his presence as Professor Charles Xavier establishes that Multiverse of Madness will indeed feature the Illuminati, a secret society of superheroes who will work together to (hopefully) protect the multiverse. Given that the chairs are in silhouettes, we theorize that Defender Strange, a variant of our Stephen Strange, is one of the key members, as is the dreadlocked-variant of Karl Mordo. The presence of harmonious Ultron bots also indicates that Superior Iron Man (Tony Stark) probably occupies one of the spots. Judging by her logo in the poster and her role in What If…? Haley Atwell’s Captain Carter (Peggy Carter) could also be a member.
Kang’s conquest
We might see Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror make an appearance Twitter
The events of Loki established Jonathan Majors’ Kang as one of the most interesting villains to be a part of the MCU. While he is likely to be a part of the Illuminati, there is no clarity on which Kang we will see. Will it be a noble version like He Who Remains from Loki, driven by the desire to protect the multiverse? Will it be an evil Kang playing good to infiltrate the group, possibly sowing the seed for his own council of Kangs? Or will it actually be a noble Kang who turns evil over the course of the film, before he appears in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, establishing his origin story? After all we have seen in Phase 4, we won’t put any of these past Marvel.
Cameos Galore
If the film stays faithful to the comics, the Illuminati will feature Mister Fantastic and Supreme Iron Man Fandomwire.com
Another potential cameo that has the internet abuzz is that of Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), and the fan-favourite to play the role is John Krakrasinski. Not only is Fantastic an integral part of the Illuminati in comics, he is also an ancestor of Kang. This move could finally fix Marvel’s elusive success in creating a live-action Fantastic Four team, providing depth to the characters before they get their dedicated film. If the film does feature Supreme Iron Man from the comics, he could be played by Tom Cruise, who nearly essayed the role instead of Robert Downey Jr back in 2008. There are subtle clues that the MCU might tweak Kang to be an ancestor of Stark rather than Richards, since Stark had shown the affinity to protect people without their consent by creating an administrative system (Ultron) much like Kang (TVA).
Wanda is the villain
Wanda could embrace her Scarlet Witch persona completely. YouTube
WandaVision set things in motion for Wanda’s transformation into the Scarlet Witch, with her chaos magic and powers to alter the multiverse. The crucial cog of the puzzle is the Darkhold, which she was last seen perusing in the show. The book also led to the creation of Strange Supreme in What If…? It is quite likely that this book might be the object manipulating her into hearing her sons, Tommy and Billy’s voices, and will eventually lead her to disrupt the multiverse in their search. The shot where she approaches her grief-stricken self in the Westview house establishes that we could see a more unhinged version of her in the film, as does the clip of Zombie Wanda.
Young Avengers
Marvel has been teasing a Young Avengers team-up since the beginning of Phase 4 MarvelFandom.com
The introduction of portal-cascading America Chavez aka Miss America in the trailer can be a (literal) gateway to the Young Avengers, which has been teased heavily throughout Phase 4. Given that we have already seen Kate Bishop, Eli Bradley, Kid Loki, Tommy and Billy in the MCU, Chavez’s appearance might finally bring together the remaining members of the team, and set up a Secret Wars-like showdown in future films.
Loki deemed worthy?
We have no idea which version of Loki Tom Hiddleston is bringing to screen this time YouTube
Since Tom Hiddleston is also supposed to appear in the film, it will be interesting to see which Loki variant we get here. After the Disney+ show gave us a range of different Lokis to love, we have a feeling that the Loki we see in Multiverse of Madness will be the original one. As his character grew over the season and showed a desire to protect the multiverse, would it be too much to ask for a heroic Loki that can wield Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir?
Will we see Wade Wilson?
As X-Men characters cross over into the MCU, it is a matter of time before Deadpool makes an appearance Disney Plus
Patrick Stewart’s Professor X creates the perfect bridge for all the Fox entities to hop into the MCU. The character we’re most excited to see is the foul-mouthed mercenary Deadpool. Since we last saw Ryan Reynolds travel back in time to redeem himself for Green Lantern and X-Men Origins, bringing him before the Illuminati for creating multiple realities would make perfect sense. His quippy R-rated personality would also lead to comedic gold, if we get to see him interact with Doctor Strange.
