Doctor Strange 2's X-Men Fake-Out Is Officially Part Of A Pattern
The following article contains spoilers for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."
It's safe to say "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" certainly lives up to its name. The titular sorcerer, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, traverses different universes with a plucky teenager, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), as his companion. The multiverse is not a nice place, as Doctor Strange learns all too well. After going through many different realities, including one where he and America turn into paint, they land at one where its version of Strange has already died.
This forces him to turn to the current Sorcerer Supreme — Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor). They were enemies in his reality, but Mordo appears to be a friend in this one. That is until he knocks the two unconscious and has them trapped as they await trial from a mysterious organization known as the Illuminati. It appears to be a clandestine association in this universe that deals with only the gravest of threats to reality, and it encompasses some familiar faces in a new context. While there's Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) and Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch), the best of the bunch has to be the return of Patrick Stewart as a variant of Charles Xavier from the "X-Men" franchise.
It's great to see Stewart back in the chair, and he has a bright, yellow one in this movie that looks like it came straight out of the 1990s "X-Men" animated series. But his inclusion also raises a concern that might irk some hardcore Marvel fans.
Remember Ralph Bohner?
The year was 2021. "WandaVision" came out, and fans tuned in every week to see what ramifications would be in store for the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then, in one glorious episode, Pietro Maximoff, a.k.a. Quicksilver, appeared. It was a noteworthy development because Aaron Taylor-Johnson played him in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," but this time around, he was portrayed by Evan Peters, who played Quicksilver in the 20th Century Studios' "X-Men" films. It sparked a ton of debate and questions, the one first and foremost in fans' minds being whether this meant the X-Men officially entered the MCU.
Those thoughts soon came crashing down when it was revealed that Pietro was merely being played by a young actor named Ralph Bohner. It was a fake-out that either enraged fans or made them chuckle a little bit, but everyone was hopeful the next time an X-Men actor popped into the MCU, it would make way for the proper introduction of the heroic team. Hopes ran high once again when Professor X appeared in a "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" trailer that the X-Men would finally enter the MCU. But alas, it's still not meant to be.
Patrick Stewart's Professor X makes for a delightful cameo, but it doesn't offer anything in terms of bringing the X-Men into this world. He shows up, spouts some wisdom, and then gets killed by Wanda. Much like Ralph Bohner, it comes across as a fakeout that teases the eventual inclusion of the X-Men in this universe ... but just not right now. At some point, Marvel actually has to go through with bringing the X-Men into Earth-616 instead of dealing with all of these feints. But it's not happening now, so X-Men fans may want to taper back their expectations a bit.