The trailers for “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness” foreshadowed the appearances of Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier and Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, and the arrival of the Illuminati. But it turned out the movie had some major surprises in store when it came to this secretive organisation and which characters turned out to be members.
In “Multiverse of Madness,” Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) head to a different version of Earth, where they run into the Illuminati, who are pretty mad that the pair ended up in their universe at all. But this universe’s version of the Illuminati is pretty different from the one usually seen in Marvel comics.
In the comics, the Illuminati are a secret society that tries to control things from behind the scenes. In its first version, the Illuminati’s members are Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Namor, Black Bolt, Professor Xavier, Black Panther, and Dr. Strange. At other times, Captain America and the Hulk have also been members. The group is founded after the Kree-Skrull war to try to organise in other events where the whole planet is threatened.
In the movie, the Illuminati are Professor X (Stewart), Captain Carter (Atwell), Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch), Karl Mordu (Chiwetel Ejiofer), Black Bolt (Anson Mount), and Mr. Fantastic (John Krasinski). It’s not clear if Dr. Strange’s home universe (the one where all the MCU movies take place) will eventually have its own version of the Illuminati, but for now, let’s unpack the version of the Illuminati in “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.”
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Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, aka Professor X
Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart)’s appearance in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” was foreshadowed in the trailers, but it’s still thrilling when he finally appears on screen as a member of this universe’s Illuminati. The yellow wheelchair he uses is not like the one in the X-Men movies, but actually much more like the one in the X-Men cartoon series from the 1990s. Charles can read minds and he uses that ability to show Dr. Strange the past and to try to save his universe’s Wanda Maximoff.
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John Krasinski as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic
For years, some vocal fans have clamoured for John Krasinski to play Reed Richards, the head of the Fantastic Four. There have been two major attempts at adapting the story of the Fantastic Four before: the 2005 and 2007 movies, which starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and a pre-Captain America Chris Evans, and the 2015 film, which starred Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell. When Disney acquired Fox, it opened up the door for the Fantastic Four to come into the MCU. But it seems that, unlike the X-Men, Disney isn’t interesting in bringing back those actors.
Marvel has a “Fantastic Four” film in development, and it’s possible that Krasinski will play Richards in that film. But it’s also possible that his casting in “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness” was just a fun Easter egg for fans, and they’ll ultimately go in another direction with the character.
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Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau, aka Captain Marvel
In the universe Dr. Strange visits, it’s not Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) who took the mantle of Captain Marvel, but, rather, Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch). In the 2019 “Captain Marvel” film, Rambeau was the friend Danvers left behind when she journeyed into space. And her daughter, Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), appeared as an adult in WandaVision, and ended up with powers of her own. Monica is set to appear in “The Marvels” alongside Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel.
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Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, aka Captain Carter
Hayley Atwell first played Peggy Carter in “Captain America: The First Avenger.” She even had her own spinoff show, “Agent Carter,” that aired on ABC from 2015 to 2016 (and it was an absolute delight). The MCU retconned her ending on that show, though, in “Avengers: Endgame,” when Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) traveled back in time to live his life with her instead.
In this universe in “Doctor Strange the Multiverse of Madness”, though, it’s Carter who was given the super soldier serum, turning her into Captain Carter. A similar story was told in Marvel’s “What If…?” on Disney+, though it’s not clear that this Carter would have the exact same origin. We probably won’t see Atwell’s Captain Carter again, but there’s always a chance.
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Anson Mount as Black Bolt
If you had trouble figuring out just who this member of the Illuminati was while watching “Multiverse of Madness,” we don’t blame you. Anson Mount played Black Bolt on ABC’s extremely short-lived TV series “Inhumans.” It aired for eight episodes in 2017.
Black Bolt is the leader of the Inhumans, a race of genetically modified humans. If that sounds a lot like the X-Men, that was kind of the point. Black Bolt has super strength and stamina, but his biggest power is his “sonic scream,” which let him use his voice as an intense weapon. In “Doctor Strange the Multiverse of Madness,” Black Bolt’s costume is very similar to his comics counterpart’s.
It seems unlikely that Marvel is going to try to adapt the Inhumans again, but anything could happen down the road. Nonetheless, it was cool to see Mount reprise his role.
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Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Karl Mordo
In Dr. Strange’s regular universe, Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is his nemesis. That’s also true in the other universe, but it’s because that universe’s Dr. Strange became obsessed with the multiverse and almost ended their reality. Mordo is the sorcerer supreme here and is dedicated to making sure any Strange from another universe can’t cause too much chaos.
