Rumours are buzzing about who could turn up in the next film in the MCU. It says it in the title that we will be diving into the Multiverse, which Doctor Strange opened in Spider-Man: No Way Home, as well as Wanda playing with it abit at the end of Wandavision and Kang and Loki also seemingly opening it at the same time in Loki. With the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield being kept very quiet, and giving fans everything they wanted, now with basically everything Marvel under their own studio roof, the possibilities are somewhat endless as to who could pop up from previous Marvel films. We already have the voice of Patrick Stewart in a trailer, but who else could we see pop up.
DEADPOOL
Despite Ryan Reynolds going all Andrew Garfield on us, denying that he is in this film, it certainly feels like Deadpool has a strong chance of popping up given that we last saw him at the end of Deadpool 2 hopping through time. It’s possible that the TVA or some other multiversal authority has captured and imprisoned him for his wrong doings only to escape during this film at some point, setting him up nicely for Deadpool 3.
WOLVERINE
The beloved X-Men character was the only one to get a solo film during the Fox run of films (until Deadpool). Wolverine could almost survive without even mentioning the other X-Men characters altogether but we know we are getting Professor X already, so not a big reach to get Wolverine as well. Whether it’s Hugh Jackman on the other hand is another question, he went out with a big swing in Logan, a perfect goodbye to the character, so whether he would return or not for a one-off appearance is debatable, but maybe if he is given the chance to wear the yellow spandex. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were introduced to the MCU X-Men played by all new actors including someone else playing Wolverine.
MAGNETO
Where Professor X goes it’s not out of the question to assume that Magneto is closely following behind, especially with his ties to Wanda Maximoff in the comics (He’s her father). I have long had a theory that this film will be a reverse House of M storyline, where instead of the famous lines being “No more mutants” which caused there not to be anymore Mutants in that comic universe, this time around it will be the opposite which causes Mutants to appear in the MCU, something Magneto could plausibly be behind, influencing Wanda. Not a stretch to believe Ian McKellen would return given his friendship with Patrick Stewart.
MR FANTASTIC & THE FANTASTIC FOUR
During the trailer it seems that Doctor Strange is brought before The Illuminati, the cleverest people in the Marvel universe all holding council, Reed Richards typically being one of the smartest around and a constant on the team. Ioan Gruffudd would be much more likely to appear than Miles Teller, although fans will never shut up until John Krasinski appears as the character.
The rest of that Fantastic Four aren’t as likely but with Marvel’s good relationship with Chris Evans it would be a lot of fun to see him reprise his role as the Human Torch.
IRON MAN
Perhaps the biggest and strongest rumour for a long time about this film is that we would see a version of Iron Man, just not the Robert Downey Jr version but one played by Tom Cruise, as Cruise was very close to signing onto the role before RDJ took it. There’s been strong rumours of Cruise being on set without the confirmation, but certainly feels like this would be the exact scenario he would want, just popping up in one Marvel film then being done.
BLACK PANTHER
After the sad passing of Chadwick Boseman in 2019 and Marvel said they were going to continue on with the Black Panther sequel lined up, fans have been questioning how the character could live on whether it be through someone in universe already like Shuri or perhaps a variant from a different universe that gets put into the MCU. We already saw a version of Killmonger become Black Panther in What If…?, something not out of the question to bleed over into the MCU with evil Doctor Strange going to appear as well.
CAPTAIN CARTER
Speaking of What If…?, Captain Carter was the the first episode and fans have even spotted what looks like her shield on the Doctor Strange poster, it could make sense that she was part of this Illuminati. A fan favourite character, giving Hayley Atwell some more deserved screentime as the character, as well as making a return to the big screen.
CAPTAIN MARVEL
There’s a certain moment in the trailer which seems like someone using Captain Marvel like powers, diving into the multiverse means it’s likely to be someone else, perhaps Maria Rambeau. Someone who is in the conscienceness with her daughter becoming Photon in Wandavision, as well as Lashana Lynch making a name for herself when she became 007 in No Time to Die. It certainly seems to make a lot of sense and add up that a Captain Marvel level person might be someone who could actually put up a fight against Wanda.
SPIDER-MAN
This is a very optimistic one and seems very unlikely. We obviously saw the multiverse open in Spider-Man: No Way Home and with the director of this Doctor Strange, Sam Raimi having directed Tobey Maguire in his three Spider-Man films, there certainly seems a chance of reuniting Raimi with the character. However, let’s not forget that Spider-Man is owned by Sony who are particularly fussy with how Marvel use the character in their films. We have seen Spider-Man in Avengers films so it’s not out of the question, just feels unlikely.
MOON KNIGHT & THE MIDNIGHT SUNS
Moon Knight is at his very highest at the moment with his Disney+ series proving a hit with Marvel fans. Oscar Isaac’s contract may only have been for this one series, but given the reception and other goings on in the universe it would be a surprise if Marvel aren’t setting up something with the supernatural team, The Midnight Suns. We already know Blade is on the way after he was meeting The Black Knight at the end of Eternals, we just have to add Ghost Rider and could benefit from adding The Punisher, who is now part of the MCU with the Netflix shows being moved over to Disney+. There is a chance, but perhaps more of a post-credit scene than in the film.
It’s just a matter of days now til we find out who will appear, but let’s not forget it’s a just over 2 hour run time so we certainly aren’t getting all of these, but we can hope. It’s going to be a pretty non stop two hours and we are far from being finished with the multiverse with the goings on of Loki and Kang running a muck.
Who do you want to see appear? Anyone I missed from my list?
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