If there’s one thing Marvel fans are going to do – they’re going to come up with theories.
And chances are, many of them will start and end with Mephisto because for some reason, fans of the resident devil really want the demon to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Well, we’re less than a month away from the premiere of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the latest in the massive franchise and we STILL don’t know much about the movie, except for the fact that this movie is going to be crazy and is huge in scale.
The movie, which is a direct sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange, has sparked numerous rumoured cameos including the Illuminati and Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic, discussions on who the film’s main villain would be and plenty of theories that are frankly, just as crazy as the movie seems.
There are a few theories that are out there, some that seem plausible and some that we wish would come true. Here are 10 theories that you’ve probably never heard of, ranked from most likely to the least.
1) Christine Palmer is the Night Nurse
It has been well established that Rachel McAdams is returning as Christine Palmer, girlfriend to Stephen Strange and while her role in the first movie was rather small, one fan theorises that she could play a much bigger role this time around – perhaps, as the Night Nurse.
In the comics, the Night Nurse has no powers of her own but is a highly trained and certified nurse who has made it her life’s mission to treat heroes, off the books. In fact, there have been three characters who have adopted that identity and one of them includes Palmer, since she is a doctor and skilled enough to be the Night Nurse. Her being a past love interest of Strange also means she understands the secrecy around a hero’s identity.
Interestingly enough, Claire Temple, played by Rosario Dawson in the Marvel/Netflix TV series is also regarded as a Night Nurse, so if they can find a third, it’ll match the trio from the comics.
2) X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
This theory is pretty plain and simple. With Professor X set to appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, this opens the door for more X-Men characters and other mutants to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well. There have been rumours swirling around of a new Wolverine, the potential return of Quicksilver after appearing in WandaVision and more. There have also been whispers that Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey might make a cameo too.
Now, since these are variants, who’s to say that these characters are directly lifted from the X-Men movie franchise from the now-defunct and Disney-owned 20th Century Fox? Heck, even the characters in those movies contradicted each other, so Marvel Studios can vaguely reference those movies, infer a connection but still introduce new mutants to the MCU. Either way, fans love the mutants and want to see them again. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the perfect gateway to allow that.
3) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will introduce Scarlet Witch variant, Lore
With this movie delving into the multiverse, fans can likely expect to see plenty of variants – and not just Stephen Strange variants, but Wanda Maximoff variants too. Comic book fans who’ve read Scarlet Witch’s story arc will be familiar with the time she fought a variant of herself called Lore!
In the comics, Lore was out to conquer dimensions by destroying her variants and feeding on their power. She employed Master Pandemonium and several demon versions of the Avengers in her crusade to ultimate power too. Whilst Wanda variants can be expected, it would be cool if Marvel actually introduces Lore in the same way she was introduced in the comics.
And since the trailer has clearly shown two Wanda Maximoffs sharing the same screen, it’s clear that the movie is dealing with more than one version of Wanda so anything goes.
4) The movie will debut Vishanti
Vishanti are a trio of supernatural, god-like entities, and act as patrons for the Sorcerer Supreme and defenders of the Earth realm. In a recent poster for the movie, a magical book was featured and identified the book as The Book of Vishanti, a book that contains the most powerful white magic spells.
With the Darkhold set to play a larger role in the movie and potentially debut Chthon, the appearance of The Book of Vishanti may lead to the debut of Vishanti.
5) A new Sorceror Supreme will be chosen
Sorceror Supremes aren’t self-appointed, they are chosen… by Vishanti. Wong is currently the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Sorcerer Supreme because there simply were no other contenders present to assume the role of Sorceror Supreme. Despite being the self-appointed Sorceror Supreme, he isn’t officially one because he hasn’t performed any great acts of heroism or participated in a tournament to earn the title. The events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness could be the story of how Earth’s true Sorcerer Supreme is chosen.
Thus far, we’ve seen parallels between the actual comics and the trailers. In the comics, Strange proved himself worthy to be considered Sorcerer Supreme when he plunged into a multiversal adventure initiated by Nightmare. This ultimately led to a confrontation with Shuma-Gorath where he sacrificed himself to defeat the creature. The Vishanti later recognised him as the Sorceror Supreme.
Seeing how Shuma-Gorath is now believed to be Gargantos in the sequel, and Nightmare potentially being one of the movie’s main villains, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may just see the Vishanti debut and pick a worthy Sorceror Stange.
6) Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man will appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Tide’s tie-up ad with Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness sees Sorcerer Supreme Wong (finally) having a tuna melt. It also sees him on a quest to clean the Cloak of Levitation before Strange returns. The Cloak flies through the streets of New York before crashing into a food truck for Joe’s Pizza Parlour.
Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker used to work as a pizza delivery man for Joe’s Pizza so whether or not this is a cheeky little nod or a much bigger hint that Maguire will appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness remains to be seen but one thing’s for sure, after seeing Maguire in Spider-Man: No Way Home, fans want more of him. With anything possible in the multiverse after seeing the events of No Way Home, we won’t quickly write this possibility off just yet.
Oh, there’s also a link to Manolo Rey, the official Brazilian voice dub for Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, indicating that he’s working with Mariana Torres, the official Brazilian voice dub for Wanda Maximoff. We’re not aware of the two of them appearing in any movies together, except for this one so….
7) Defender Strange from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man universe
Doctor Strange may not have made his big-screen live-action debut until 2016, but Sam Raimi had included the sorcerer as an easter egg in his Spider-Man trilogy. In Spider-Man 2, J. Jonah Jameson was attempting to come up with a good name for Doc Ock. One of the names suggested was Doctor Strange and Jameson said it was great, but taken already. What first seems like a nod could now be seen as a sign that a version of Doctor Strange exists in Raimi’s Spider-Man universe.
Now that Raimi is involved in the sequel, he could very much make this theory canon. Spider-Man: No Way Home made it obvious that Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man happened many years ago, so Doctor Strange who was active then would be much older now – and a much bigger superhero. That could be how he becomes known as Defender Strange. In the marketing, Defender Strange is visibly much older and carries a much wiser demeanour.
8) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a two-a part movie
Seeing how this Doctor Strange sequel will continue to dive into the multiverse and lay groundwork for future MCU films and Phase 5, the movie may either end with a bit of a cliff hanger, or allude to a second parter that will advance the story even further ala Infinity War before it leads up to Endgame.
In addition, the movie was initially meant to run for three hours but got cut down to 126 minutes. For a movie with this large of scope, an entire hour being cut out is absolutely wild – just imagine what kind of action or plotlines fans never got to see!
Now, Marvel has never done such a trick with any of the heroes’ solo movies. At most, solo movies end with a tease of a potential sequel or the next big Marvel movie. Then again, no other hero has gotten four solo movies aside from Thor. So if Marvel is slowly breaking out of their typical moulds, we don’t see why we shouldn’t entertain the idea of a two-part story that would essentially be Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Doctor Strange 3?
9) Doctor Strange is a Skrull
Captain Marvel introduced the concept of Skrulls to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The shapeshifting aliens have been plotting to secretly invade Earth for the longest time. In the Secret Invasion comics, it revealed that the Skrulls have been secretly replacing superheroes with imposters.
Now that Secret Invasion has been announced in the next lineup of TV shows and movies, Marvel can easily rewrite its past films and reveal that certain characters were Skrulls the entire time…. even Doctor Strange himself!
Fans have been on this theory since the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home as they found Stephen Strange has been acting out of character, looked different and couldn’t even get a simple spell right.
10) Christine Palmer is The Invisible Woman from another dimension
This theory suggests that Christine Palmer is secretly from an alternative universe and is Invisible Woman. It also suggests that the wedding scene in the trailer is her marrying Mister Fantastic. As simple as this theory sounds, it is unlikely because there have been no indications in the past that Christine Palmer has superpowers. It would also be more realistic to cast a new actress for the new role. At this point, fans just want to see the Fantastic Four, and we don’t blame them!
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Natalie
Trinity Sun
