The Super Bowl is known for having some of the best advertisements of the year and 2022 was no exception when the major bomb dropped in the form of the official Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer.
The trailer, which you can watch here, shows off some wild concepts that we didn’t expect along with some bits that were nothing more than rumor… until now, such as the involvement of the Illuminati and the inclusion of Professor Charles Xavier, played by X-Men veteran, Sir Patrick Stewart. However, there were a handful of nods and references to the animated What If…? series over on Disney+ including the likelihood of Captain Carter and Marvel Zombies to name a few.
Rumors have been floating around since back in August that the Multiverse of Madness would include the Illuminati, a group of superheroes that act as a sort of behind-the-scenes council of operatives that use their collective knowledge and abilities to manipulate the course of events. In the comics, this group includes the likes of Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Professor X, Captain Peggy Carter, and others. Of course, this would be a Multiversal version of Tony Stark which is rumored to be played by Tom Cruise, who was originally a major contender for the original role before Robert Downey Jr. took over when Cruise allegedly turned it down.
Beyond the Illuminati, the inclusion of references to Peggy Carter being the first Avenger known as Captain Carter can be seen in the form of her shield in the promotional poster for the film, as seen here:
https://twitter.com/DrStrangeUpdate/status/1493006687397109761
Others have noticed that a zombified Wanda and Dr. Strange seem heavily featured in the trailer as well, which would be incredible to see as the Marvel Zombies comic arc was one hell of a wild ride. To experience this in live-action would be insanely radical but whether that could possibly turn into a big-screen adaptation is just a fantasy. For now.
But that is not all. Fans are starting to go nuts over the possibility of more easter eggs in the trailer and poster including Deadpool and Reed Richards from the early 2000s Fantastic Four movies.
https://twitter.com/JustTheGoat216/status/1493073722965692416
I will be frank- Captain Carter seems obvious and so do the Marvel Zombies, to some extent, which are both featured in the limited What If…? series. However, I am not too convinced that the images above show Deadpool but it might be hard to argue that the shot in the image doesn’t look just like him. Plus, we know Deadpool is on the way to join the MCU, we just don’t know how yet so maybe this will be his first official appearance?
As for 2000s Reed Richards- this one is curious. On one hand, we are almost certain that Reed Richards is part of the Illuminati so no doubts there about him appearing. However, it’s hard to make out whether that is Ioan Gruffudd or someone else. And since fans have been ravenous about making John Krasinski the MCU Reed Richards, it could also be him. However, this is the Multiverse so anything goes here. Regardless, it is all but a certainty that it will be one of the two.
Last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home was one of the most epic and ambitious comicbook films we have ever seen, and we loved it (so much so that we didn’t write a review in order to avoid spoilers). However, Multiverse of Madness is shaping up to turn the crazy dial up past 11 and we can’t wait for it to debut in theaters on May 6th.
