One Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness theory could potentially explain the introduction of vampires in the MCU. Even Doctor Strange has been forced to admit he doesn’t know much about the multiverse, but he’ll soon learn a lot more because the trailers for Doctor Strange 2 have shown the Masters of the Mystic Arts facing threats on a greater scale than anything they’ve confronted before. The multiverse is key to the MCU’s Phase 4, and it’s about to be blown wide open.
The trailers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have teased several mysterious locations, and there’s speculation some of them could be a mystical realm called Otherworld, lifted straight from the comics. There, Otherworld lies at the heart of the multiverse, serving as one of a number of phenomena described as a “nexus of all reality.” It is dominated by the Starlight Citadel, a fortress designed to protect each and every dimension, and if the Doctor Strange 2 trailers have indeed shown the Starlight Citadel, it is destined to be left in ruins. That suggests the gateways between the separate dimensions could well be opened, allowing anything to pass into the main MCU timeline.
This even potentially sets up the MCU’s vampires. 2020’s “X of Swords” X-Men event explored Otherworld to an unprecedented degree, revealing it is divided into a number of Fair and Foul Courts. One of the Fair Courts is Sevalith, a land ruled by Countex Oublia and Countex Oscura, and it is the home of the true vampires. If the multiverse shatters in Doctor Strange 2, then a portion of Sevalith could wind up transported to the MCU, introducing vampires to this world.
The Super Bowl trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may well support this theory. It includes a glimpse of Doctor Strange being brought before a group fans have named the “Illuminati,” one of whom appears to be a variant of Professor X voiced by Patrick Stewart. Many viewers are convinced Blade appears in the Doctor Strange 2 trailer as a member of this group, based on the shadow of what appears to be a man in a sweeping coat wearing a sword on his back. If vampires are indeed a multiversal force in the MCU, then Marvel Studios’ Blade could well be a being who travels between the dimensions protecting different realities from them.
Vampires have already been mentioned a couple of times in the MCU, notably in Thor: Ragnarok and Loki, but they certainly don’t seem to be mainstream. The handful of vampires who have been seen until now could have been travelers who managed to break through the boundaries between the dimensions and arrive on Earth but who were swiftly neutralized by either Blade or the TVA. But the TVA seems somewhat preoccupied with a multiversal war after a Loki variant killed He Who Remains, and the multiverse is breaking apart, meaning Blade will be hard-pressed to deal with a large-scale incursion. Interestingly, speaking in an interview (via Rotten Tomatoes) back in 2019, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige hinted there is a connection between Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Blade – and this theory would be a perfect fit.
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