If Sam Raimi has done anything so far for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it's that the first two trailers have lived up to the "madness" part of its namesake. While the Multiverse has been teased since Avengers: Endgame, we've had plenty of fakeouts (we're looking at you WandaVision), but thankfully, we're finally there in a post-Spider-Man: No Way Home world.
2022's Super Bowl blew the doors off the Multiverse, with the long-awaited sequel to Scott Derrickson's OG outing showcasing zombie Doctor Strange, the tentacled Shuma-Gorath, Wanda Maximoff embracing her potential as the Scarlet Witch, and THAT big X-Men cameo. The tantalising tease of Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Professor Charles Xavier is all well and good, but for those up on their comics, it's more important than you could possibly imagine.
It looks like the repercussions of Stephen Strange's Multiverse tamperings are going to cost Doc dearly, with one scene featuring Benedict Cumberbatch's shamed "wizard" being taken to trial. Instead of this timeline trickery putting him in front of Loki's TVA, he's somewhere completely new. It's here that we hear the unmistakable tones of Sir Patrick Stewart alongside his signature Prof X look, but with six chairs making up this mythical council, who else will Strange be answering to?
There were already rumbles that the superpowered group known as the Illuminati were going to feature in Multiverse of Madness, and although it was originally discarded as fanciful, the latest trailer made it a real possibility. For those that don't know, the Illuminati is a secret society of Marvel giants that watch from the sidelines and pull the strings to bend the universe to their will. The classic lineup all heralded from the same reality, but if the Multiverse of Madness roster is anything to go by, it seems we're setting ourselves up with a team for the ages.
For their 2005 introduction, the Illuminati was made up of Xavier, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, the Inhumans' Black Bolt, the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards (Mr Fantastic), and the ocean-dwelling Namor. Getting fandom seriously pumped, there's an ever-increasing possibility Reed Richards could make his MCU debut ahead of Jon Watts' Fantastic Four standalone. Even though John Krasinski and Emily Blunt have only ever been fan-cast as Mr Fantastic and Sue Storm, Multiverse of Madness could make this fact.
Eagle-eyed fans are already flooding the Twitterverse with their theories, and a big one is that Tom Cruise will be playing Superior Iron Man. Notably, the Ultron-inspired guards escorting Strange look like they're inspired by the villainous version of Tony Stark. Later in the trailer, fans are obsessed with a mysterious glowing character that also teases Superior Iron Man – even down to a blurry goatee. This would be a major nod to an alternate Marvel Cinematic Universe where Cruise was tipped to play Stark around 2004 but pulled out because he didn't see the role working.
What to Read Next
These Marvel juggernauts are all possible, however, we imagine Raimi will mix things up a bit. In one brief shot, we see someone standing to the right of the throne room, wearing a long coat and sporting something on their back. While some have accepted this is Chiwetel Ejiofor's Baron Mordo, others have speculated this could be the live-action debut of Mahershala Ali as Blade. During the much-hyped moment, there's also a figure on the left that might be wearing the Black Panther suit.
Given the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, we know he can't appear, however, it could be a non-speaking part or even set up Michael B Jordan as a Multiverse King of Wakanda.
Sticking with the Black Panther theme, let's remember Namor the Submariner is pitched as a possible big bad for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. After a throwaway line in Iron Man 2, Marvel's first mutant was possibly referenced in Avengers: Endgame.
As for Black Bolt, we just don't see Anson Mount being brought back as the Inhumans' lead following the critical panning of the ABC's disastrous series. Looking at an Illuminati replacement, the latest poster for Multiverse of Madness includes the shield of Captain Carter from Marvel's…What If?. The inclusion of both Evil Doctor Strange and a zombified Doc suggest we'll get a live-action continuation of the animated Disney+ series, so it's possible Hayley Atwell will finally reprise her role as Peggy Carter in person.
Where the Illuminati was once resigned to a pile of B-list teams we thought it would take Kevin Feige years to introduce, they've suddenly rocketed to the forefront of the franchise. Forget those pitches for Young or Dark Avengers spin-offs, and park your plans for a female-first A-Force, the shadowy overlords of the Illuminati are setting themselves up for an all-star standalone movie or one of those Disney+ series the MCU loves so much. Don't be shocked if the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness credits include Stewart, Cruise, Krasinski and more.
![Marvel's Jessica Jones season 1 [Blu-ray] [2016]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1560423545-61kSRh1suOL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Marvel's Jessica Jones season 1 [Blu-ray] [2016]")
Netflix/Marvel Marvel's Jessica Jones season 1 [Blu-ray] [2016]
![Marvel's Daredevil season 1 [DVD]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1560423876-41jSBg6azBL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Marvel's Daredevil season 1 [DVD]")
![Marvel's Luke Cage season 1 [Blu-ray] [Region Free]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1560424034-513RheLXzLL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Marvel's Luke Cage season 1 [Blu-ray] [Region Free]")
Marvel Comics Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
Tom Chapman is a pop culture-loving writer and NCTJ-accredited Broadcast Journalist with over seven years of experience covering the small and silver screen.
Starting his career with a post at Movie Pilot in Berlin, Tom took on freelancing full-time with regular stints at Digital Spy, Screen Rant and Comic Book Resources.
These days, you can still find him covering all things Marvel and Star Wars at Digital Spy, while dipping his toe in bylines at Yahoo! and IGN.
Tom likes to think his spirit animal is a cross between Gale Weathers and Olenna Tyrell.
