We last saw the Darkhold in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, when Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) destroyed every copy of the book in the multiverse. As we’ve explained, that tremendous display of power might be a significant plot hole for Doctor Strange 2. But the Darkhold came up again in a report that indicates the dark magic book might not be as gone as we thought. The Avengers might still have to deal with the Darkhold in the near future, as the person who wrote the book might still be around.
If accurate, this is an incredibly exciting MCU spoiler, as it’ll certainly improve the overall Multiverse Saga storyline. But before we can explain, know that big spoilers might follow.
Why the Darkhold is important
As you might have realized, the multiverse is why the Darkhold book is so important. The magic corrupted Wanda’s mind between WandaVision and Multiverse of Madness, allowing her to learn spells that let her traverse the multiverse. She did it via dreamwalking, or taking over the corpse of one of her variants.
She also used her power to destroy the Darkhold books everywhere in the universe. That display of power made us question the Doctor Strange 2 plot. That’s because the Darkhold also exists carved in stone in Wundagore Mountain.
The rest of the Avengers might not know anything about the recent Darkhold events, given they don’t work together for the time being. They might not know how powerful Wanda became after using the Darkhold. And we don’t expect Wanda to have died at the end of Multiverse of Madness.
Also, we have no idea whether Wanda only destroyed the books in other universes or whether she also destroyed the castles. But the event is of significant importance for the MCU.
Let’s remember that Wanda learned in WandaVision that she is the Scarlet Witch. Her destiny was to rule or annihilate the cosmos, presumably with the help of the dark magic book. Luckily she seems to have broken that destiny by destroying the Darkhold. But that might not mean a lot in the multiverse.
A variant of Kang might have written the Darkhold
As I have explained before, the multiverse is a complex concept in the MCU. Its existence means nothing, or nobody is gone for good. Take Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who died in Endgame. Iron Man will surely return in Secret Wars, and Marvel will use the multiverse to do it.
The same goes for the Darkhold. The book is gone after Wanda destroys it. But powerful villains who can travel the multiverse can go to the past to retrieve it. Such a person is Kang (Jonathan Majors), the big villain of the Multiverse Saga, who will face the Avengers in Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars soon.
According to The Cosmic Circus, Marvel might reveal that Kang, or one of its variants, actually wrote the book in the first place.
That doesn’t mean Chthon is a variant of Kang. Only that the latter might have made sure this particular book exists. The book’s spells (or science) might be needed in a timeline’s history. So Kang could have very well written it, coming from a future where he had knowledge of the book.
The Darkhold is a way to travel and conquer the multiverse. That’s why Kang might need it. It can also attract Scarlet Witch variants across the multiverse, which could be fierce adversaries to Kang. Put differently, Kang might have wanted this particular destiny for the book to ensure nobody could use it to challenge him across the universe.
He might have wanted the Darkhold to exist so it could eventually destroy itself via the actions of a Scarlet Witch. And a Scarlet Witch without a Darkhold can’t possibly threaten Kang’s dreams of conquering the multiverse.
Maybe Kang wanted The Darkhold to exist so it could generate incursions in the future. As I explained, Wanda destroying the book across the multiverse is the kind of event that should trigger incursions. And a Doctor Strange 2 plot hole.
Or maybe Kang might have needed a particular variant of Wanda to pick the book up in the Sacred Timeline for other purposes. Maybe the He Who Remains good kind of Kang. This is all speculation, however.
Will the Avengers deal with the Darkhold in the future?
It’s unclear when Marvel will make these connections or whether it’ll stick to them now that they have leaked. But The Cosmic Circus points out that things are already in motion. Marvel might have planted subtle details in various MCU projects to prepare for the big reveal; that Kang wrote the Darkhold.
In such a case, we can’t help but wonder whether we’ll see the Darkhold in action again. Especially with the big Avengers vs. Kang fights coming up in Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.
Marvel used imagery involving similar circles in multiple projects, including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Loki, and WandaVision.
Moreover, we saw similar glyphs and circles in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Eternals, Ms. Marvel, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Even if Kang didn’t write the Darkhold, the book might be necessary to him. It might be part of a series of artifacts he might be hunting, like the Ten Rings or Ms. Marvel’s (Iman Vellani) bangle.
Whatever the case, integrating the Darkhold into a larger Avengers story is certainly an exciting prospect. And let’s not forget that Doctor Strange 3 might be released before Kang Dynasty, likely picking up directly after the events in Multiverse of Madness.
