1 Major X-Men Villain Was Teased 9 Years Ago According To Clever MCU Phase 2 Theory

Major Marvel Comics villains, who could be a danger to Marvel Studios’ upcoming X-Men team, might have already been teased back in Phase 2 of the MCU. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige teased the introduction of the MCU’s mutants back in 2019, and while the process of integrating mutants into the pre-established franchise has been arduous, recent updates concerning Marvel Studios’ X-Men reboot mean it won’t be much longer before the titular team debuts. Even so, the exact storyline of the MCU’s first X-Men project is unclear, though it’s possible the team could face some iconic villains from Marvel Comics.

In Marvel Comics, the X-Men first appeared in 1963’s The X-Men #1, which introduced notable heroes such as Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman and Beast into the Marvel Universe. In their debut adventure as a team, the X-Men battled Magneto, who is expected to be an ever-present threat to the team when they appear in the live-action MCU. However, Magneto surely won’t be the only villain that the X-Men face in the MCU, as some of their longest-lasting adversaries have also been rumored for Marvel Studios’ franchise, but these terrifying villains may be completely reinvented for their MCU introduction.

Ultron Could Become The MCU’s Sentinels

According to one MCU theory posed by Reddit user TeamThrash, Marvel Studios could modify Phase 2’s major villain, Ultron, into the Sentinel robots, which could be a prominent threat to the X-Men and mutantkind as a whole. The Sentinels first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1965’s The X-Men #14, and have been an ever-present danger to mutants since then, as they were originally created by anti-mutant military scientist Bolivar Trask to locate mutants and capture or kill them. Sentinels represent the consequences of humanity’s actions in the name of hatred and ignorance, acting as a glaring analogy of racial discrimination.

Marvel Comics’ Sentinels are enormously powerful, and pose a huge danger to mutants, having engaged in battle with the X-Men on many occasions. They have also been featured in Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: The Animated Series and in X-Men ’97, so it would also make sense for Sentinels to appear in the MCU. Artificially intelligent technology already exists in the MCU, most notably as Ultron, who was created by Tony Stark in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and served a very similar purpose to the Sentinels, so this technology could easily be adapted into the new robots.

Ultron Becoming The MCU’s Sentinels Would Finally Bring The Villain Back

Since James Spader voiced him in Avengers: Age of Ultron, there have been calls for Ultron to return to the MCU, as many consider him to be one of the franchise’s most wasted villains. Ultron’s storylines in Marvel Comics are expansive and world-changing, but he was featured as a one-and-done villain in the MCU’s Phase 2, which is a far cry from his comic roots. While there is speculation that Ultron could return in upcoming MCU projects such as Ironheart or Armor Wars, it’s also possible that the technology used to create him could be adapted for the MCU’s Sentinels.

Bringing Ultron back as the Sentinel robots in the MCU’s future would be a fantastic way to update the villain for the upcoming slate of MCU projects, as Ultron may seem insignificant without an Avengers team to battle. With Marvel Studios’ X-Men team set to appear soon, however, the Phase 2 villain being altered into the Sentinels could give him a lengthy and terrifying future in the MCU. Adapting Ultron in this way would spare Marvel Studios from rehashing his old storyline, and allow some of the X-Men team’s most iconic and threatening villains to finally appear in the MCU.

When Could The Sentinels Be Created In The MCU?

There has been some speculation that the beginnings of the MCU’s Sentinel program has already been witnessed, as the Stark drones used by the Department of Damage Control in projects such as Ms. Marvel share many tracking and attacking abilities with Marvel Comics’ Sentinels. However, these drones are a long way from becoming the artificially intelligent and massive humanoid robot Sentinels, so the forgotten Ultron technology may be better suited to this task. The Reddit theory notes that there must be pieces of Ultron’s former bodies scattered across the globe, which some of the MCU’s more scheming villains could use.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus debuted as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and has since made appearances in Black Widow and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with the latter revealing her to be the Director of the CIA. This position could grant her access to Ultron’s technology, and her quest for power in the MCU could lead to her refashioning this tech into the Sentinel robots. Valentina is set to make her next appearance in 2025’s Thunderbolts, so the Sentinels could potentially be introduced that early, perfectly setting the stage for the debut of the MCU’s X-Men.