Who are the Illuminati? A guide to the billion-dollar cameos in 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness delivers more than a handful of jaw-dropping moments for Marvel fans, but none are as shocking as the reveal of the MCU's Illuminati. Instead of bringing in all-new characters, Marvel Studios looked back at over 20 years of comic book movies and picked an exciting collection of OG, alt-universe, and anticipated Phase 4 heroes.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
In the comics, the Illuminati is an organization of heroes who use their combined experience and disparate perspectives to influence their world from behind the scenes. They fulfill much of the same role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, except for the part where they can't keep up with chaos magic and get witch-wrecked in five minutes flat. So...think of this as both "hello" and "in memoriam" for these multiversal heroes.
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Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic
John Krasinski plays Reed Richards, the "smartest man alive" and founding member of the Fantastic Four. His main power (besides his big brain) is enhanced corporeal elasticity. Basically, he's real stretchy and can transform himself into any shape. How he thought vaguely stretching in Wanda's direction would help in the Illuminati's battle against the Scarlet Witch, no one knows, but he tried and that's what's important.
Krasinski has not played Richards in any previous Marvel project, but he has long been a fan-cast favorite for the character. There is a Fantastic Four movie planned for Phase 4 of the MCU, but whether or not Krasinski will take the role as the Earth-616 version of the character remains to be seen.
Captain Marvel (Maria Rambeau)
Maria Rambeau first appeared in Captain Marvel as Carol Danvers' gal pal and associate in keeping cosmic peace. In the 616 universe, Maria becomes a founding member of SWORD and is a cosmic traveler known as "Photon," but she doesn't have any innate powers. Maria dies during the five-year gap caused by Thanos' snap, but the mantle of Photon is taken on by her daughter Monica, who acquires superpowers in WandaVision.
This version of Maria is Captain Marvel, though the backstory that led to her getting powers doesn't come up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Whether or not this Maria has a daughter named Monica is also unknown.
Professor X
The most exciting Illuminati member is Professor Charles Xavier as played by Sir Patrick Stewart, whose history with the character goes back to 2000's X-Men. In those films, Professor X is an omega-level mutant whose telepathic powers are some of the strongest in existence, especially when they're enhanced by his mind-amplifying machine Cerebro.
Professor X's appearance marks the first time Marvel Entertainment has made use of Disney's massively expensive acquisition of Fox, which held the rights to X-Men for decades. He is the first of Marvel's "billion-dollar cameos," which were teased with the casting of X-Men actor Evan Peters as Wanda's brother Pietro in WandaVision. Unfortunately, that Pietro was a fake unrelated to multiversal shenanigans, but now that Sir Patrick Stewart is back as Professor X, pretty much every member of the X-Men is back in play.
Captain Carter
Years after the Earth-616 version of Peggy Carter died in Captain America: Civil War, actor Hayley Atwell returns to play Captain Carter, an alt-universe Peggy, who received the super soldier serum and became the world's first superhero.
Captain Carter made her MCU debut in Disney+'s animated series What If…?, where Atwell voiced the character in two episodes. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the first time Captain Carter has appeared in live-action. Let's hope it's not the last.
Black Bolt
The biggest surprise on the Illuminati council is actor Anson Mount returning as Black Bolt, the hero he played in Marvel's 2018 ABC series Inhumans. As shown in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, he has the terrifying ability to produce powerful sonic waves whenever he speaks. Since his voice is deadly, Black Bolt almost never opens his mouth.
Inhumans is widely considered Marvel TV's biggest flop, which makes Mount's return evidence of the MCU's willingness to play with the studio's past. It also speaks to how gruesome comic book deaths can be, since Black Bolt got the absolute shortest end of the stick in the fight with the Scarlet Witch.
Baron Mordo
Some people are the same in every universe. Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) might be one of those. Just like his 616 counterpart in Doctor Strange, the Illuminati Mordo is a jealous, vindictive liar whose obsession with Stephen Strange makes him one of the good doctor's lurking foes. But as least he didn't get witch-smacked.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now in theaters.
Topics Marvel
Alexis Nedd is a senior entertainment reporter at Mashable. A self-named "fanthropologist," she's a fantasy, sci-fi, and superhero nerd with a penchant for pop cultural analysis. Her work has previously appeared in BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Esquire.
