This Doctor Strange Theory Is The Best Multiverse of Madness Villain Twist

Stephen Strange himself could be the real villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. There’s a sense in which Marvel Studios has been building up to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness since the beginning of the MCU’s Phase 4. WandaVision positioned Wanda Maximoff for her role in the film, while Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home doubled down on the multiversal themes. Now, Doctor Strange 2‘s trailers are deliberately leaving more questions than answers – including over just who the real villain could be.

There’s been intense speculation Scarlet Witch herself could be the villain, with several shots in the trailers showing her costume darkening as she reads the book of forbidden magic called the Darkhold. In the comics, this ancient tome is tied to the Elder God Chthon – as is the Chaos Magic Wanda Maximoff now wields, perhaps suggesting he could be the true villain. But trailers have also shown another Elder God, Shuma-Gorath, with merchandise confirming he’s been renamed Gargantos – likely because Marvel don’t own the rights to the name Shuma-Gorath. They’ve also hinted at the Nightmare Dimension, meaning Strange could well find himself going up against its ruler, a powerful being called Nightmare. Marvel’s best trailers are designed to conceal as much as they reveal, and the ones for Doctor Strange 2 are doing the job well.

But there is one final possibility – that the villain of the film has been teased in trailers right from the start, and his name appears in the title. It’s possible Stephen Strange is himself the cause of the multiverse of madness. What’s more, there have been hints in trailers and TV spots that it could be quite deliberate.

The Trailers & TV Spots Hint That Doctor Strange Is Going Rogue

The trailers for Doctor Strange 2 haven’t exactly been subtle, with one shot of Stephen Strange confronting a doppelganger from another dimension who warns that he is the greatest threat to the multiverse. Most viewers have assumed this is referring to yet another variant of Doctor Strange – multiple have been shown in the trailers – but it’s quite possible the main MCU’s Doctor Strange is the one being discussed. This Doctor Strange has never gotten over his trademark arrogance, ignoring Mordo’s warning that a price must always be paid for magic, and in Spider-Man: No Way Home he used damaged the fabric of the multiverse as a favor for a friend. What’s more, dialogue hinted he’d already used that spell to erase Wong’s memory of a party at Kamar-Taj – suggesting he performs even the most complex and dangerous spells without a second thought.

But Doctor Strange 2 trailers hint Stephen Strange could go further, with disastrous repercussions. He’s seen brought before a mysterious group at the heart of the multiverse – one of whom seems to be a variant of Professor X, played by Patrick Stewart – as a prisoner. This appears to be the multiversal version of the Illuminati, a group responsible for trying to police all of existence, and they clearly believe Doctor Strange to be a threat.

Patrick Stewart Hints Doctor Strange Could Be Dangerous

Addressing his return to the role of Charles Xavier in a recent interview, Patrick Stewart discussed the relationship between Doctor Strange and Professor X. Although he treated it as a hypothetical question, initially trying to avoid admitting he was in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, his comments were rather too specific to be coincidental, and he crumbled towards the end of the interview and practically admitted it. “Professor X would be extraordinarily cautious, and watchful, and perhaps feel a little insecure,” Stewart observed, “because there is something that is… potentially dangerous about this man, and I think that would put Professor Xavier on guard.” That certainly fits with the potential Illuminati scene, because it would explain why Doctor Strange is brought before this group in manacles that presumably limit his ability to perform magic. It’s interesting to note Stewart doesn’t hint Professor X would be wrong to treat Doctor Strange with caution, too; he too seems to believe Strange could be dangerous.

Doctor Strange Could Turn Evil Because Of The Darkhold

All this naturally raises the question of just why Doctor Strange would turn into a villain. The answer may well have been lying in plain sight since WandaVision, because trailers and TV spots have shown Stephen Strange using spells from the Darkhold. In the comics, the Darkhold is bound to the power of the Elder God Chthon, and its spells should be handled with care. Indeed, some of them have even corrupted heroes, twisting them into monstrous versions of themselves who needed to be dealt with by superhero groups such as the Avengers and the Midnight Sons. This corruptive effect has been hinted at in trailers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with Scarlet Witch’s costume beginning to turn black due to the dark magic she is wielding. There’s absolutely no reason to assume Doctor Strange would be spared the same effect, given he’s clearly foolish enough to use the Darkhold.

There’d be a precedent for Doctor Strange to use magic from a spellbook without recognizing the risks. He did exactly the same in the first Doctor Strange film, when he learned how to manipulate the Time Stone after reading the Book of Cagliostro. Wong and Mordo discovered what he was doing, and were horrified; as they told him, he wasn’t manipulating the spacetime continuum, he was breaking it. Warnings in the Book of Cagliostro are written after the spells, and Strange couldn’t resist experimenting rather than reading on, meaning he was blissfully unaware of the consequences of his actions. The Darkhold goes one step further than the Book of Cagliostro, because it wouldn’t contain warnings at all – meaning a sorcerer like Doctor Strange would probably use them without any awareness of the damage he was doing to his very soul.

This would be the most fantastic villain twist imaginable for Doctor Strange 2. It would follow on logically from the seeds already planted in Doctor Strange and Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the reckless and arrogant Stephen Strange becoming a threat to the multiverse. What’s more, it would mean this was an MCU movie unlike any other; because the hero of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would actually be the main villain, with his friends and allies striving to save him from the dark magic he has unleashed.