5 Things We’re Hoping To See In Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Benedict Cumberbatch's second solo(ish) outing, is about to hit theatres. At this point, the official synopsis sounds somewhat like a blander take on Spiderman: No Way Home – "Doctor Stephen Strange casts a forbidden spell that opens the doorway to the multiverse, including alternate versions of himself, whose threat to humanity is too great for the combined forces of Strange, Wong, and Wanda Maximoff."

But we have seen the trailers, and NWH, and therefore, it is safe to expect a whole lot more from the movie. We also assume that, like us at Film Companion, you've been living under a rock to avoid internet spoilers. So to make the wait till Friday fun, we're listing 5 storylines, cameos and Easter Eggs we're hoping to see:

Illuminati Assemble!  

This clandestine team up of Marvel comics' powerhouses, who come together to fix things and make the decisions that no one else is willing to make to ensure the stability of the superhero-verse, has already been name-dropped in the teasers. What remains to be seen is the actual composition of Team Illuminati. The main line-up in the comics had Iron Man, Mister Fantastic (from the Fantastic Four), Namor, Black Bolt, Professor Xavier, Black Panther and Doctor Strange.

So far, Professor X is assumed to be the voice in the trailer, Black Panther is an integral part of the MCU, the Inhumans' MCU entry was a bust, and rumours of Tom Cruise's Superior Iron Man variant appearing in the film have been debunked. So that leaves us with the question: Is someone going to scream, 'Imperius Rex' or what?

The Redemption of Ralph Bohner

I'm still not over WandaVision: The Unbearable Tragedy of Ralph Bohner and will continue to highlight how the show's uncalled-for bait-and-switch with Evan Peters' Quicksilver is the darkest chapter of the MCU. The only way for Marvel to redeem this travesty would be to go all-in in Doctor Strange 2 and bring mutants into the main MCU timeline. All the while ensuring that Quicksilver and the new MCU Wolverine are involved somehow.

That's it. There are reparations to be made, Kevin Feige.

Undead-avengers Arrgh-ssemble!

The latest 'Dream' trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gives us a glimpse of a full-blown Zombie Doctor Strange and a hint of the Zombie Scarlet Witch (earlier seen in What If). So in an MCU devoid of Chris Evans' Captain America, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man, I'll take one last undead assembly with the original Avengers line-up.

And while we're geeking out, can we please have Bruce Campbell as a chainsaw-handed Doctor Strange variant, dispatching all of the undead Avengers in one fell swoop? Please?

Mephisto

To be honest, this request is rooted in sheer frustration. At this point, I am tired of hearing theories about how a fly on Agatha Harkness's wall in WandaVision is a secret Mephisto cameo. So let's just get this over with. The Multiverse of Madness is the perfect platform to finally introduce the character and silence fans for a while. Throw in a Mephisto vs Dormammu match, and we can stop bargaining over what constitutes a Mephisto Easter Egg (or not) forever.

Entry, The Sentry

Comic book readers would know who The Sentry or Robert Reynolds is. A wildly powerful and bonkers character, his power levels position him as the MCU's Superman – and he has, at different points in the comics, been friends with the Fantastic Four, pummeled the Hulk, destroyed Asgard and torn Ares in half. The Sentry's secret is his duality – he is also The Void, a force of evil so powerful that everyone had to forget that The Sentry even existed to save Earth.

Sam Raimi's inimitable style is uniquely suited to handling the introduction of this powerful, conflicted and twisted character who is ultimately capable of redemption (in any variant form). In fact, give Raimi his own The Sentry film. It's time.