The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is replete with a number of fascinating supervillains. From aliens hellbent on universal domination to mobster-businessmen that are content with making New York City their personal empire, these supervillains have varying motives and ambitions.
Take a small spattering of MCU supervillains. Loki is the Norse God of Mischief who has had a unique character arc. He went from aspiring to rule over mankind to defending his brother, Thor, against the Mad Titan Thanos. Ultron is an artificial intelligence entity that uses enhanced robotics for a body and has calculated that mankind needs to be wiped from the Earth in order for it to flourish. Baron Zemo is a soldier that makes for a somewhat sympathetic supervillain, turning the Avengers against each other in an act of vengeance for his family that perished during the battle against Ultron.
The next Marvel project coming to theaters is going to be Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Doctor Strange has some of the most unique supervillains in Marvel Comics’ arsenal. This is because of Doctor Strange’s nature as a master of the mystic arts, or magic. A new synopsis for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness says the film will feature a “mystery adversary.” So who will this mysterious supervillain in the film be? Another sorcerer, or perhaps a monstrous entity from the abyss of the multiverse? There are a few possibilities here.
‘Evil’ Dr. Strange
In the trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, an alternate version of Doctor Strange makes an appearance. This takes place towards the end of the trailer, and this version of Doctor Strange seems to be purposefully insidious. He wears a wicked sneer and states, “Things are about to get out of hand.”
There is some fan speculation that this is the version of Doctor Strange from the Disney+ What If…? series. In the series, this particular Doctor Strange has lost his heart instead of his hands in his quest to become a Master of the Mystic Arts. With the multiverse opening up in the MCU, this ‘evil’ Dr. Strange could easily be the mystery adversary in the movie.
Wanda Maximoff
This entry could be a surprise for Marvel fans. This is particularly true for those who have not watched the Disney+ series WandaVision. On that show, Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch) takes a New Jersey town hostage in an attempt to curate an idyllic lifestyle that she has never had.
WandaVision established that the Scarlet Witch is the most powerful person in the MCU. She is also emotionally unstable, and that makes her all the more dangerous with her magic-based abilities. While the trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness depicts her as helping Doctor Strange, Marvel Studios could easily run a bait-and-switch in the actual film.
Mephisto
Mephisto is essentially the Marvel Comics equivalent of the devil. He was long-rumored to make his debut in WandaVision, but this fan theory never came to pass. Some had speculated that it would have made sense for Mephisto to be behind the Scarlet Witch’s unheroic motives and actions.
In the MCU, Asgard was a real place. The Kingdom of Wakanda and its vast technological advancements was hidden from the rest of the world until just recently. New kingdoms and realms are always being discovered and explored. Why not have Hell be a real place as well? The veil of the multiverse has been pierced, so the possibilities are really endless for what Mephisto could be up to.
Kang the Conqueror
Kang the Conqueror is about to enter the fray of the MCU in a big way. The supervillain made his debut on the Disney+ show Loki, and hinted at a multiverse with different versions of each person. This particular version of Kang was not such a bad guy, but he hinted that there are other versions of himself that are not of good intent. Kang the Conqueror is supposed to appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as well.
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange uses a spell that tampers with the space-time-continuum and, accidentally, brings characters from other universes into the known universe. If he accidentally brought an evil version of Kang the Conqueror into the MCU, the time-traveling and seemingly omniscient supervillain could wreak havoc.
The Beyonders
Everyday Marvel movie fans have likely not heard of the Beyonders. They first made their appearance in Marvel Comics during 1984’s Secret Wars. The Beyonders are incredibly powerful beings who reside on the edge of space, claiming all of reality at their whim. They are capable of killing celestials and taking on heavy-hitters like Thor with relative ease.
With Doctor Strange having previously tampered with the very fabric of reality, he could have caught the attention and perhaps the ire of the Beyonders. In Jonathan Hickman’s Marvel Comics event from 2015, also titled Secret Wars, the Beyonders are conquered by Doctor Doom, a character with significant magic-based abilities. Perhaps Doctor Strange is one of the few MCU characters who can stand up to them given his own magic-based abilities.
No matter who the supervillain is in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it will be one of incredible power. The good doctor will certainly have his hands full in his second solo film.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness comes out in theaters on May 6th, 2022.