Once upon a time, the Inhuman Royal Family was rumored to make an appearance in the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Ms. Marvel. With much being made about the changes to Kamala Khan’s superhero origins, it doesn’t seem like Black Bolt and Medusa will appear in the series, but thanks to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, fans know that they do exist in the multiverse, even if there’s one less Black Bolt than before.
Anson Mount’s return as the Midnight King was short-lived and ended violently as the Scarlet Witch put him down with little more than a thought. And that ending does not sit well with Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani, who is a bit of a Black Bolt fan herself. Though she liked the movie, Vellani took issue with the way they treated the King of the Inhumans.
I have so many opinions, which I don’t think we have time for. Here’s my TL;DR. I love Sam Raimi. I don’t care what anyone says. He’s my guy. I think they did him dirty. I did not appreciate that.
Iman Vellani
Vellani apparently disliked it so much that she texted Marvel Studios One-Above-All, Kevin Feige, after watching the film. In addition to expressing her displeasure over Black Bolt being killed, she also took the time to engage Feige in what appears to be an ongoing argument between the two: whether or not the MCU’s established continuity should be referred to as 616.
Every time I talk to Kevin, we have this argument where I say, ‘The MCU is not 616. He’s like, ‘It is because I said so.’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s 199999.’ He hates it. So, we keep having this argument, and then they put 616 in the movie. I’m like, ‘Kevin, you know it’s not 616.’ He just sends me a sad face. I was like, ‘Great.’
The MCU had previously been defined as “Earth-199999”, but over the course of a couple of films (Spider-Man: Far From Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), the comic accurate 616 has come into play. Who knows the answer? Ultimately is doesn’t matter, but it makes for a fun debate between fans and there’s no bigger fans of the MCU than Vellani and Feige.
