(Contains spoilers for WandaVision, Loki, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.)
With less than three months until the premiere of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the rumor mill is working overtime to pump out possible characters and cameos. But which characters are confirmed, and which are just glimmers of a faint possibility? And of all the rumors out there, which ones are credible and which ones are pure wishful thinking?
There are a few reasons why there’s so much buzz around the next Doctor Strange movie. For one thing, we haven’t gotten a Doctor Strange film since 2016, so fans have been waiting almost 6 years for the Master of the Mystic Arts to get his next solo outing. Secondly, Multiverse of Madness promises some exciting team-ups, both with characters we’ve come to know and love over the years, and at least one new character making her debut. And finally: MULTIVERSE!
Why Everyone’s Excited About the Multiverse
Marvel has been building up to the explosion of the multiverse for awhile now. Way back in 2018’s The Avengers: Endgame, the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) warned Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) that removing the time stone from its timeline could create a branch reality with dire consequences for its inhabitants.
The multiverse was teased again in WandaVision (more on that in a minute), and then blown open in Loki, when Sylvie killed He Who Remains and fulfilled her life’s mission of defeating the TVA. With He Who Remains gone, the Sacred Timeline immediately started branching into countless realities, and the multiverse was born. Strange got his first taste of the multiverse in last fall’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which a botched spell led to beings from other realities pouring into his universe.
The multiverse is shaping up to be the lynchpin of Marvel’s phase four, similar to how phase three revolved around the Infinity Stones. Plus, we’ve already seen in No Way Home that the multiverse concept is giving Marvel license to introduce characters and properties that they previously couldn’t include in the MCU.
So let’s get to it! Which characters, new and returning, will the multiverse bring us?
Confirmed Characters
The teaser trailer for Multiverse of Madness gives us a welcome look at some of the characters in the movie. Here’s who we know we’ll see:
Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Yeah, I know, his name is in the title, so this isn’t a surprise. But the trailer does reveal a couple of interesting tidbits. Fans of Marvel’s What If…? will recognize “Dark” Strange toward the end of the trailer, indicating that Strange might face off against an evil version of himself. Plus, in one lightning-fast shot, we get a glimpse of Strange seemingly wearing his Defenders costume. How many versions of Strange are we going to get?
Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). In the comics, Wanda is what’s called a “nexus being,” or a being capable of affecting probability in their timeline. The final commercial in WandaVision advertises a drug called “Nexus,” which promises to “anchor you back to your reality, or the reality of your choice.” Does this mean that Wanda is a nexus being in Multiverse of Madness? Whatever her deal is, the trailer starts with Strange telling her he needs her help, and asking her what she knows of the multiverse. It’s clear Wanda’s going to play a major role in the plot.
Wong (Benedict Wong). Wong, one of the Internet’s favorite characters, is now Sorcerer Supreme, since Strange was blipped for five years. Will he pass the torch? Can he juggle his official duties with the cage fighting matches we saw in Shang–Chi? We’ll see!
America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez). America will be making her debut in the MCU. In the comics, America hails from a reality called the Utopian Parallel, and she has the power to open portals to different realities.
Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). Christine is Strange’s colleague at the hospital, and his love interest. At the beginning of the trailer we see her getting married (presumably to someone else), but there’s another interesting detail, too: we also see her wearing some kind of new uniform, suggesting that she might become the MCU equivalent of Night Nurse, her comics alter ego.
Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor). At the end of the first Doctor Strange, Mordo turned his back on the mystic arts after finding out that the Ancient One had drawn energy from the dark dimension to prolong her life. In the trailer we see him sporting a new look. It’s possible that he’ll be the “friend turned enemy” the movie’s synopsis hints at.
Rumored Characters
Here’s where things get, um, fanciful. Marvel has already demonstrated that it can do whatever it wants with the multiverse, but a lot of wishful thinking seems to have bubbled up from the Internet.
Loki, Sylvie, and Mobius. When Loki season 1 ended, Hollywood Reporter announced that Loki would be appearing in Multiverse of Madness. Shortly after, the stunt doubles for Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino, and Owen Wilson showed up in the Stunts section of Multiverse‘s IMDB page. None of these appearances are confirmed, but for a brief moment in the trailer, we do see something that looks like a TVA time door. Plus, the Loki characters would be in the best position to explain the multiverse to Strange, so who knows?
Professor X. Another rumor is that Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, or another actor will appear as Professor X, finally introducing the X-Men to the MCU (formally, at least). One leak on Twitter, now deleted, claimed that Professor X will team up with Captain Carter, Baldur the Brave, Monica Rambeau, and Mordo to form a team called the Illuminati.
Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man. This rumor is based on an Instagram story posted by a Portuguese voice actor, and should be taken with a huge grain of salt.
Ghost Rider. Like the Professor X rumor, this one is based on supposed leaks claiming that Ghost Rider will have a brief cameo that will set up a future movie or series.
Tom Cruise as Tony Stark. This rumor, apparently based on the fact that Tom Cruise almost auditioned for the role of Iron Man, seems the least likely of all, but I dutifully pass it on to you.
The Mario Brothers, Jorts the Cat, West Elm Caleb, and Your Mom. Hey, it’s about as likely as Tom Cruise, right?
What do you think? Which characters are you hoping to see in the new Doctor Strange? Sound off in the comments!
(Featured image: Marvel)
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