Marvel made a few big revelations via the Super Bowl Doctor Strange 2 trailer and seemingly implied that The Illuminati rumors surrounding Multiverse of Madness might be true. We saw Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) get dragged by Ultron sentries to a sort of court. Presiding over the session is Professor X (Patrick Stewart). The mutant is telling the others that maybe they should tell Strange the truth.
Marvel has not acknowledged the Illuminati team so far, despite teasing it. But there are rumors that Doctor Strange 2 will feature this team of superheroes. And if there is one person who knows whether that’s the case, that’s Benedict Cumberbatch. The actor is already fielding such questions from the press, and he just addressed the Illuminati Illuminati Marvel members rumors for the first time. Before we can explain, I’ll warn you that big spoilers might follow below.
The Doctor Strange 2 Illuminati rumors
So who is part of the Marvel Illuminati then?
We have six chairs in that room where Strange is in the last trailer. That means the “court” has several prominent members. Charles Xavier is one of them. The Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) variant is probably another. Then there’s the Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch) cameo in the trailer. And the Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) teaser in the poster. These could all be Illuminati members in Doctor Strange 2.
In total, that’s four Illuminati members shown and hinted so far. Various leaks gave us two others: Balder the Brave and Mister Fantastic. And since the Ultron drones are there, an Iron Man variant has to be lurking around, having some sort of say in the Illuminati actions.
While Marvel is far from confirming any Illuminati rumors, there is a big plot leak out there that seems to be the real thing. That’s because the events shown in the Doctor Strange 2 match the claims in that leak. The plot spoiler says that Strange and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) will be prisoners of the Illuminati in a different universe.
But the Illuminati scenes might be limited, as Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) will attack the compound, setting in motion a chain of events that will have Doctor Strange and America Chavez run for their lives across the multiverse. The same Doctor Strange 2 leak says that Wanda might harm and even kill some of the Illuminati team members.
That’s the kind of context you need before seeing Benedict Cumberbatch’s reaction to the Illuminati.
Benedict Cumberbatch reacts
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the actor addressed a question about the Illuminati appearing in the movie.
Asked whether an evil Doctor Strange is a member of the Illuminati, Cumberbatch immediately resorted to the expected denial. But he realized that the Multiverse of Madness campaign is starting.
“It’s the beginning of all of this, isn’t it? I kind of escaped it with Spider-Man because we were doing reshoots for Strange. I couldn’t do the tour. Poor Tom [Holland] and [Zendaya and Jacob Batalon] and everyone else had to go, ‘Yeah. Haven’t heard about that’ and just sort of deny everything,” he said. “I’m going to start doing the same game again now.”
Illuminati denials aside, Cumberbatch said Doctor Strange 2 is a “feast.” He said the movie is a Sam Raimi special that has everything it says in the title and “a lot more besides.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the most important MCU picture coming out this year, and we’re fast approaching the film’s final marketing push. We’ll only get more Cumberbatch & Co. interviews where the stars of the movie will be denying everything.
