As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’s May 4 release gets closer and closer, we just got another theory confirmed by a new 30-second promo released by Marvel. The secret group of powerful heroes known as the Illuminati is confirmed to exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they will appear in Doctor Strange 2.
We got our first clue about the Illuminati’s existence when the official trailer for Doctor Strange 2 dropped back in February. In this trailer, we see Benedict Cumberbatch as Steven Strange handcuffed, walking into what appears to be a council room. Then we hear a voice that sounds very similar to Patrick Stewart, who plays Professor X in the X-Men movies. In the comics, Professor X is one of the important members of the Illuminati.
In this new 30-second promo released by Marvel last April 26, we are basically told that the Illuminati will be in this movie. We once again see a handcuffed Doctor Strange coming into a council room, and then Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mordor says this: “Stephen Strange, the Illuminati will see you now.”
In the comics, the Illuminati consists of relevant Marvel superheroes like Doctor Strange himself, Professor X, Black Bolt, Reed Richards (founder of the Fantastic Four), and even Iron Man. Patrick Stewart slipped up and kind of confirmed that he is playing Professor X in Doctor Strange 2 in a press interview. As for the other members of the Illuminati, we still don’t know who’ll make an appearance. There have been crazy cameo rumors though, like Tom Cruise playing as an Iron Man variant and Idan Gruffurd as Richard Reeds, A.K.A. Mr. Fantastic.
20th Century Fox used to have exclusive film rights to the Marvel X-Men superheroes, but since Disney recently acquired Fox in a huge deal, there is now a huge opportunity to have X-Men superhero cameos in the MCU. We can only wait ‘til May 4 and hope that we see some new faces in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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