We are only a week away from Marvel Studios’ next film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. With a title like that, there’s a lot that they can do and with the horror elements teased, it does seem like Doctor Strange is in for quite the ride. We know he’ll meet America Chavez, Wanda may fully embrace the Scarlet Witch, and he’ll meet a mysterious organization, which recently finally was confirmed as the Illuminati. Yet, there’s still one major question that’s on everyone’s mind: What exactly is going on?
What stood out to everyone in the second trailer released for Multiverse of Madness may be the confirmation of Patrick Stewart returning to the Marvel universe. Yet, they are still keeping his appearance a mystery with the bizarre words “We should tell him the truth.” We hear Mordo accuse him early on that he is on trial due to something that he’s done to reality, which many believed could be a connection to Spider-Man: No Way Home. As is Marvel’s usual process, they could’ve easily cut a few scenes together to make that sequence come together with the way it does. Who knows if Mordo is actually referring to the Strange we know at this very moment.
So, it could be that the crimes he’s standing trial for are not his own, but rather the result of a Variant–especially with the different incarnations of Strange teased throughout the various trailers. Or, there’s always the chance that he does something alongside Chavez that ends up dragging him across the multiverse and in front of the Illuminati. Still, it doesn’t explain exactly the “truth” that is implied in the trailer. It’s almost as if they are hiding something from the world or even the multiverse.
While in the comics, they have done some shady things as a group, especially when they were the cause for Hulk’s invasion of Earth after shooting him into space. Yet, as that storyline has been explored without their inclusion in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Thor: Ragnarok, it opens up other opportunities. The most prominent one might be that they have some kind of connection to what may lead Wanda Maximoff down a darker path within the MCU.
We’ve seen glimpses of her at the facility that matches the one where the Illuminati reside. While Doctor Strange may have gotten their attention with his activities across the multiverse, they aren’t that innocent either. The biggest threat to their reality was already hinted at in WandaVision when Agatha Harkness revealed the power that Scarlet Witch holds and what it may unleash upon reality.
If the Illuminati feared what she may unleash upon all realities due to the same prophecy, it wouldn’t be too surprising that they had a hand in keeping her from potentially reaching her true potential. Perhaps, it’s connected to her children Billy and Tommy that technically exist within the multiverse but have become a constant that they always keep away from her. It’s a dream that is never meant to come true and they are the reason for exactly that.
Ironically, it might be the exact reason that her fury is unleashed upon the multiverse. We’ve seen it teased in the trailers, as a blood-drenched Wanda is seemingly unleashing chaos magic. If their comic history is anything to go by, the Illuminati tends to screw up the life of others for the “greater good” and it tends to backfire on them. So, with Wanda’s prominence in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it seems likely they will once again be their own worst enemy.
