Spider-Man: No Way Home
is the MCU movie everyone is talking about, but it’s hardly the only exciting adventure that Marvel is about to unleash. Rumors say that No Way Home is in the middle of a triple-part story that started with WandaVision and will end with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Somehow, the No Way Home multiverse unleashed a flurry of Doctor Strange 2 leaks. As a reminder, MCU Phase 4 has already been rumored to feature a few crazy MCU cameos. Now, fresh leaks indicate that the main villain in Doctor Strange 2 might face off against a surprising Marvel character who is a prominent member of the X-Men.
As always with Marvel rumors, we can’t confirm any of these leaks right now. But if they’re accurate, massive Doctor Strange 2 spoilers might follow below.
The Multiverse of Madness villain
Before WandaVision and Loki hit
Some of the early Doctor Strange 2 leaks said that Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) would be one of the film’s villains. If not the main villain, she might be one of the surprising antagonists Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) will face. Then WandaVision came, and we learned that Wanda is now a full-fledged witch. She’s a Scarlet Witch who is growing more powerful than Strange can ever be.
Wanda becoming a witch puts her on a collision course with Strange, who is the overseer of Earth’s reality. Not having Strange or Wong show up in WandaVision was one of my biggest disappointments. When you’re dealing with magic, you have to bring on the Avengers wizards to help. But I digress.
All of that is to say that the following tweet from Marvel leaker Daniel Richtman will not surprise fans who are aware of those earlier rumors:
In Doctor Strange 2 Wanda will fight someone from the Fox-Verse (I am not allowed to reveal who it is) but could top this fight https://t.co/fbZt8Iq3LM
— Daniel Richtman #BlackLivesMatter (@DanielRPK) August 25, 2021
If he’s accurate, then Marvel will bring over someone from the Fox Marvel movies. That makes sense because A) it’s the multiverse, and B) Marvel already did it. Evan Peters played Wanda’s brother in WandaVision, after playing Quicksilver in Fox’s universe. We know how that all turned out, but it gets better.
The crazy Doctor Strange 2 cameos
Reacting to Richtman’s tweet, a writer for The_GWW said that it’s not Jean Grey who faces Wanda in the sequel. He then said in a later comment that it isn’t going to be Magneto either.
Not him either
— Lego Scooby-Doo (@AjepArts) August 26, 2021
Separately, ViewerAnon said that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine was supposed to fight Wanda in Multiverse of Madness. But it didn’t happen. Previous Doctor Strange 2 cameo rumors did name Wolverine.
And since we're talking, last year I hinted that LOGAN might be not be Hugh Jackman's last performance as Wolverine. That's because they wanted him for DOCTOR STRANGE 2 to fight Wanda (and get his ass decimated). Apparently it didn't end up happening.
— VA (@ViewerAnon) August 26, 2021
The Illuminati might appear in the sequel
Unsurprisingly, more people started talking about the Doctor Strange 2 cameos, revealing exciting tidbits about the film in the process. The sequel will introduce the Illuminati, a Marvel team of superheroes that appeared in other rumors. According to the same ViewerAnon, the Multiverse of Madness has the following Illuminati team: Professor X, Captain Carter, Balder the Brave, Monica Rambeau, and Mordo.
I don't know if this is a final list and I will stress as always to take things with a grain of salt, but here is who I've heard make up the Illuminati in MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS:
Professor X, Captain Carter, Balder the Brave, Monica Rambeau, and Mordo.
— VA (@ViewerAnon) August 26, 2021
That right there gives us two massive details. First of all, Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter from What If…? might indeed appear in MCU movies down the road. Secondly, Professor X is precisely the kind of X-Men member who could go head-to-head with Wanda.
Charles Xavier might be the big Doctor Strange 2 X-Men cameo
Professor X is, of course, Charles Xavier. And we’ve had two actors play Xavier in the Fox-verse, including Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy. Movie Scope says that Xavier will appear in Doctor Strange 2, but the site has no idea who will play him.
Our first scoop!
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to feature Charles Xavier (EXCLUSIVE)https://t.co/igiStH6H15
— Movie Scope (@MovieScopeSite) August 26, 2021
Variety writer Kris Tapley hinted on Twitter that Stewart is returning to his Xavier role:
— Kris Tapley (@kristapley) August 26, 2021
In other tweets, ViewerAnon said that Wanda would fight Xavier and Captain Carter in Doctor Strange 2
But because it's out there from other people: Wanda is the villain of the movie and she does have a confrontation with Xavier (and Captain Carter among others, so What If… comes into play)
— VA (@ViewerAnon) August 26, 2021
Could these Doctor Strange 2 rumors be accurate?
No matter how well-informed these insiders might be, there’s no telling if any of this will pan out. However, there’s a big difference from the first round of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness cameo rumors in 2020. Back then, Marvel hadn’t started shooting the movie. The script wasn’t even ready at the time. As a reminder, Marvel replaced Scott Derrickson with Sam Raimi to direct the sequel. That happened right around the time the first Doctor Strange 2 cameo rumors dropped.
The current Doctor Strange 2 cameo rumors are coming now that Marvel has finished principal shooting for the film. With any luck, some of the leaks above will turn out to be accurate.
Doctor Strange 2 hits theaters on March 25th, 2022, assuming there aren’t any pandemic-related delays.
