Doctor Strange 2 Secretly Teased The MCU Debut Of A Terrifying Multiverse Team

The MCU debut of a formidable multiversal team from Marvel Comics may have already been set up thanks to the ending of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange has been set up as a key figure in the Multiverse Saga, even though he has been absent since his 2022 sequel. Following his multiversal experience with Spider-Man in Phase 4, Doctor Strange took on the corrupted Scarlet Witch in a battle across the multiverse, providing him with knowledge that will prove pivotal in the MCU’s Phase 6.

Benedict Cumberbatch has already teased his return in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars (via YouTube), which are expected to conclude the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. These movies, perhaps alongside the as-yet-unconfirmed Doctor Strange 3, could explore Marvel Comics’ Time Runs Out and Secret Wars events from 2015, which saw devastating incursions obliterate the multiverse. Adapting these storylines creates the opportunity for some of Marvel Comics’ most exciting multiversal characters to appear in the MCU, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may have already teased some.

Doctor Strange May Join The Black Priests After Multiverse Of Madness

The Black Priests Have Recently Been Speculated To Debut In The MCU

First introduced in 2013’s New Avengers (Vol. 3) #2, which started to explore the Time Runs Out event, preceding Secret Wars, the Black Priests are a formidable group of characters in Marvel Comics. Recent speculation suggests that the Black Priests may have been teased in the final moments of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with Charlize Theron’s Clea being one of their many members. This is based on Clea’s comments that she and Doctor Strange need to stop an incursion, which is exactly the Black Priests’ mission in Marvel Comics.

Doctor Strange joined the Black Priests in Marvel Comics after he left Earth-616’s Illuminati. The Illuminati had originally tried to stop incursions from obliterating the multiverse by destroying an alternate Earth, but this action was deemed reprehensible by the public, causing the superhero team to go into hiding and be hunted down by the Avengers. Doctor Strange continued this quest with the Black Priests, and this mission may have been teased at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as Clea may indeed be a member of the Black Priests.

The Black Priests Are Crucial To Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars Event

Marvel Comics’ Time Runs Out Heavily Features The Black Priests

As part of the Time Runs Out story, the Black Priests set out to stop incursions and stabilize the multiverse by destroying each alternate universe’s point of incursion: Earth. This was a controversial choice that made the Black Priests enemies to many and notorious throughout the multiverse, but didn’t stop Doctor Strange from joining them, and even becoming their leader, known as the Eye of Eyes. The Black Priests even massacred the Illuminati of Earth-23099, just as the Scarlet Witch did to Earth-838’s Illuminati in Multiverse of Madness, perhaps hinting at the Black Priests’ imminent arrival.

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Ultimately, the Black Priests were wiped out by the Black Swans, but Doctor Strange would team up with Doctor Doom and Molecule Man in an effort to steal the power of the otherworldly Beyonders. This allowed Doom to build Battleworld after incursions decimated the multiverse, bringing together fragments of destroyed realities and numerous variants. The Black Priests’ plan, which was the same as that of the Illuminati and the Cabal, was a dire failure, but it was the actions of Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic and the Black Panther that would later save the multiverse.

Clea May Ask Doctor Strange To Do The Impossible In The MCU

Doctor Strange Helps The Black Priests In Marvel Comics

Throughout his career in the MCU since his debut in 2016’s eponymous Doctor Strange, Strange has fought to protect the Earth, and, more recently, the universe. It seems he is prepared to go to extreme lengths to accomplish this mission, which may make his new relationship with Clea in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness even more dangerous. Clea approached Strange with the mission of helping her stop an incursion, but if she is a member of the Black Priests, this could mean she’ll urge Strange to destroy another world to save his own.

Earth-616’s Doctor Strange doesn’t seem capable of pulling off such a devastating feat, but it may simply be in his nature, as has been displayed by his own multiversal variants. Multiverse of Madness introduced two variants of Doctor Strange who became corrupted by the Darkhold, both of whom incited incursion events. Marvel’s animated What If…? series has also focused on a darker variant of Strange who caused the destruction of his own universe. It seems very possible that Earth-616’s Doctor Strange could also take a dark turn, perfectly setting the stage for 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars.

The Black Priests’ Debut Could Lead To Another Multiverse Team Being Introduced

The Black Priests May Open The Door For The Multiversal Avengers

At some point after Doctor Strange started leading the Black Priests in Marvel Comics’ Time Runs Out event, the group joined forces with the Multiversal Avengers, who had come across the Black Priests’ base while searching for the cause of the incursions. This would be a fantastic team to see debut in the live-action MCU, and the idea of the Black Priests being teased in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness creates the best opportunity for the Multiversal Avengers to appear. In the MCU, they may take a different form than their Marvel Comics counterparts, however.

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In the Multiverse Saga, and even before then, several heroes have left Earth-616, and some others have taken their place on the MCU’s Sacred Timeline.

Marvel Comics’ Multiversal Avengers comprised Sunspot, Starbrand, Nightmask, Ex Nihilo, Abyss, Hyperion, Odinson and the Ex Nihilii. Only one of these characters, Thor Odinson, has been introduced to live-action by Marvel Studios, but any number of multiversal characters could form the Multiversal Avengers of the MCU. This team helped Doctor Strange and the Black Priests get to the Library of Worlds, which allowed Strange to team up with Doctor Doom. This means that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may have kick-started some of the Multiverse Saga’s biggest and most exciting upcoming stories.

Release Date

May 6, 2022

Writers

Michael Waldron

Cast

Elizabeth Olsen , Michael Stuhlbarg , Benedict Wong , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Xochitl Gomez , Benedict Cumberbatch , Rachel McAdams , Bruce Campbell , John Krasinski , Patrick Stewart , Hayley Atwell , Lashana Lynch , Anson Mount

Runtime

126 minutes

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Upcoming MCU Movies