Spoilers ahead, beware! Who is the evil Doctor Strange we will see in Multiverse of Madness? It could be one of the Sorcerer Supreme’s most powerful and dangerous forms with direct ties to the Illuminati.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has rivaled Spider-Man: No Way Home on the intrigue scale. The movie promises cameos galore, and there are several new faces that have been revealed in the trailers. In fact, so much has been given away between the commercials, previews, and a recent leak that it would almost seem there are no surprises left. The keyword here is almost. 

Since the MOM trailer first debuted as a post-credits scene for NWH, fans have wondered who the evil Doctor Strange could be. This variant appeared alongside Mordo, who was last seen in Doctor Strange Traditionally, Mordo has been a Strange antagonist in the comics since the Silver Age, and it would appear he has made his full ascent into villain status. However, it would appear he plays the role of sidekick to the larger threat.

Will the real Doctor Strange please stand?

Judging by the facial hair and his gravelly enunciation, it would seem this is a villainous Doctor Strange. The easiest assumption is that he is Strange Supreme, ripped straight from an episode of the animated What If…?. That incarnation was not necessarily evil, but more misguided in his quest to rescue his beloved Christine Palmer. It wasn’t his intention to destroy his universe, and he appeared to learn his lesson by the end.

In the season finale, he joined the Watcher’s Guardians of the Multiverse and redeemed himself. Having Strange Supreme suddenly become evil doesn’t fit the changes we’ve seen in his development.

If he isn’t Strange Supreme, then who could he be? The answer could be tied to the Black Priests and the Illuminati.

THE BLACK PRIESTS

The latest MOM advertisements confirmed the presence of the Illuminati. Since the Super Bowl ad, theorists had assumed that Patrick Stewart’s return as Professor X signaled the shadowy puppet masters of the Marvel-616 had arrived in the MCU. Marvel has since removed all doubt by specifically naming them in the latest trailers.

If we look back at the comics, the Illuminati formed to covertly steer the world in the right direction while protecting the planet from interdimensional threats. Around them, the Multiverse was collapsing. The magical beings known as the Black Priests arrived, and their mission was to choose which Earths were destroyed in order to maintain Multiversal balance. Doctor Strange agreed with this philosophy as sort of a “lesser of two evils” type of scenario. The rest of the Illuminati refused to go along with the plan, and Strange abandoned the group. 

What no one was expecting was that Doctor Strange would seek out and join the Black Priests. Due to his intellect and mastery of the mystic arts, he became the group’s leader. Once he mastered their magic, it imbued Strange with power levels greater than he had ever experienced before. Eventually, he and the Black Priests were defeated by Doctor Doom, and Strange was taken prisoner. 

MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

With so much of the plot for MOM revolving around the destruction of the Multiverse, it would stand to reason that Mordo and the Strange variant have joined the Black Priests. That would explain why the Illuminati would take the Earth-616 Strange captive.

In their eyes, they could be attempting to stop Strange from going down this dark path. Meanwhile, his variant has gained exponential power thanks to the Black Priests, and that is why he is the single biggest threat to the MCU’s Multiverse.

At those power levels, it would take a combined effort of multiple Doctor Stranges and Scarlet Witch to stop the Black Priest Strange.

With only days before MOM’s world premiere, we won’t have to wait long for the answer.

What's your prediction? Let us know in the comments!

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