SPOILER ALERT: This story contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
We have been promised some big surprises from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and for the most part, the movie delivered. While there is still much about the multiverse unexplained, and the ultimate crossover event that seemed to begin with Loki and is still to be fully realized, the introduction of The Illuminati in Doctor Strange’s new foray into the multiverse offers up a very interesting potential future arrival to the MCU. This article will contain spoilers for Multiverse of Madness, so teleport away if you don’t want to know.
Marketing for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has made it no secret that a version of The Illuminati would be appearing in the movie, and while teases of Professor X, Captain Carter and Maria Rambeau as Captain Marvel gave away three members, there are three that remained hidden from view until the movie’s arrival that will come as a surprise for many.
The first of these is Karl Mordo, who in the trailers is not clearly different from the character that appeared in Doctor Strange in 2016. Having not appeared since the post credit scene of that movie, in Multiverse of Madness the version of Mordo is not the magically disillusioned character we already know, but has instead assumed the role of Sorcerer Supreme following the death of Doctor Strange in this variation of reality.
The second surprising inclusion in the group is Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans, who was last seen in the ill-fated TV series that came on the back of the canceled movie featuring the lesser known Marvel group. Played by Anson Mount, as he was in the TV show, Black Bolt is a character that no one expected to be turning up in the MCU anytime soon, but his inclusion does show exactly how Marvel are dealing with all of their relatively new TV shows and movies that were not explicitly part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The final member of The Illuminati, is Reed Richards, leader of the Fantastic Four, who is played by John Krasinski. For months, Krasinski has been trending as an actor fans wanted to see take over the role of Richards in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie and his appearance in Multiverse of Madness may well confirm that will be happening. While there has yet to be any official announcement about the casting of The Fantastic Four movie, which recently lost director John Watts, it could be something that will now be made official following the appearance of Krasinski in this movie.
John Krasinski Is Now Very Likely To Play Reed Richards In The Fantastic Four
By their own rule, John Krasinski playing Reed Richards in Multiverse of Madness’ version of The Illuminati could well be all the confirmation needed for him to also play the character in the first Fantastic Four movie which is thought to be arriving in the next year or so. The one connection between all variants of characters seen so far in the MCU is that they are played by the same character across all universes.
In their Illuminati line-up, Marvel have reused the characters of Mordo, Professor X and Black Bolt with the same actors who played them previously on-screen, and while Captain Carter replaces Captain America – as was seen in the What If…? series – and Captain Marvel is now Maria Rambeau, they are still played by Agent Carter star Hayley Atwell and Lashana Lynch respectively. With all this in mind, it pretty much guarantees that Reed Richards will be played by John Krasinski when he makes his real MCU debut in The Fantastic Four.
Of course, we will also be getting an MCU version of X-Men somewhere down the line, and while many would love to have Patrick Stewart return again as Charles Xavier, it is probably unlikely that will happen. However, having briefly reprised the role in Multiverse of Madness, there is no telling what else Marvel have up their sleeves when it comes to his future, and that is just something we will have to wait to find out.