The Untold Truth Of Marvel's Illuminati

The Illuminati was introduced to Marvel Comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven in 2005. The concept of the team is simple: it is a group of highly intelligent and powerful superheroes who meet in secret in order to exchange information regarding major threats to Earth and its people. In 2006, Bendis explained a little more about the Illuminati's past in an interview with CBR. "They actually were like a secret super group," he told the publication. "Sometimes they acted together directly. Some things were more conspiratorial. Some things were happening behind the scenes in other events. [...] We've found places in stories that the Illuminati fit into quite nicely without retconning anything or changing the meaning of the story."

Although Bendis expressed his satisfaction that the Illuminati could fit into the Marvel Universe without the need for retcons, the truth is that it was founded on one. According to the 2006 comic book miniseries "New Avengers: Illuminati" Vol. 1, the team was formed in the aftermath of the Kree-Skrull War, a major arc that began in 1971 and ended a year later — meaning the Illuminati had to be retroactively inserted into events that took place before its comic debut. "If anyone is familiar with this play [...] called 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,' which follows those two characters as the main story," Bendis told CBR. "A couple of our scenes have the feel of that, where we know this famous event is happening in the next room, but here is this other thing going on that you may not know about."

Despite this odd quirk of its conception, the Illuminati has gone on to become one of Marvel's most fascinating — and arguably most important — superhero teams.

To readers of "New Avengers," it might have seemed like the Illuminati came out of nowhere. The early stages of this 2005 series follows a new group of Avengers — Captain America, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Wolverine, and the Sentry — as they attempt to deal with a mass breakout from the maximum-security prison known as the Raft.

"New Avengers" Vol. 1 #7 begins with Tony Stark attending a mysterious meeting at an abandoned Stark Enterprises warehouse. As it turns out, his fellow attendees are the members of the Illuminati, who have gathered to question Stark about the reformation of the Avengers. Fitting the group's M.O. to a tee, the Illuminati plays a subtle role in influencing the events of this arc, swapping knowledge about the mysterious Sentry and, to some extent, aiding each other in battle against the Raft's escapees. By "New Avengers" Vol. 1 #10, however, they've all gone their separate ways, and comic fans were left with more questions than answers about the origins of this strange new team. Luckily, all was about to be revealed.

One of the aspects that sets the Illuminati apart from, say, the Avengers or the X-Men, is that each of its members are willing to bend their own sense of morality — or put it aside entirely — in order to protect the Earth. Indeed, the Illuminati's many appearances over the years have been rife with moral quandaries and questionable decisions.

Examples of these problems can be found as early as "New Avengers: Illuminati" Vol. 1 and 2. For one thing, firing the Hulk into the depths of outer space is enough of a jerk move that even Namor, who is hardly a shining example of heroism himself, calls the others out on it. Equally, Reed Richards' misguided attempt to gather the Infinity Gems very nearly ends in disaster, as Richards almost succumbs to the allure of their power. That's to say nothing of the group's unprovoked, show-of-force attack on a ship full of Skrulls in the aftermath of the Kree-Skrull War.

The Illuminati's hubris nearly always has terrible consequences, however, and the team has come undone by its own designs on numerous occasions. Firing the Hulk into space does little but enrage him, and, when he finally returns to Earth in "World War Hulk," he swiftly defeats the Illuminati and forces them to fight each other to the death. Meanwhile, Reed Richards fails to use the Infinity Gems to destroy themselves and is chastised by the Watcher for his reckless pursuit of them, while the attack on the Skrulls inadvertently gives the race of shape-shifters a game-changing edge during the "Secret Invasion" event. With the Illuminati, it really does seem that no bad deed goes unpunished.

Comic book fans may have noticed that Earth-616's version of the Illuminati has been nowhere to be seen in recent years. There's a good reason for this, and it involves one of the most important events in the modern Marvel Universe.

Arguably the greatest failure of the Illuminati is closely intertwined with the multiverse-shattering cataclysm of 2015's "Secret Wars" series. Technically the third run of comics to use the "Secret Wars" name, the lead-up to this series began a couple of years earlier with the beginning of the multiversal incursions. In "New Avengers" Vol. 3 #2, Reed Richards explains how the gradual contraction of the multiverse is causing parallel Earths — and their universes — to collide and destroy each other. The Illuminati take it upon themselves to put a stop to this... and it goes about as well as all their other missions have gone.

Long story short, the entire universe is pretty much destroyed and the multiverse itself nearly goes kaput. After "Secret Wars," Marvel's comics were rebooted into the "All-New, All-Different Marvel" line, a kind of amalgamation of the Ultimate and 616 universes. Even though Marvel's comics have been rebooted three more times since then, the classic Illuminati team has yet to make its return.

Another of the Illuminati's grievous mistakes involves the "Planet Hulk" and "World War Hulk" storylines. If nothing else, though, the role the team played in these arcs at least led to its first-ever on-screen appearance.

"Planet Hulk" is kicked off by the decision made by the Illuminati (sans Namor) to send the Hulk into space, which occurs in "New Avengers: Illuminati" Vol. 1. Hulk's subsequent adventures on Sakaar will be familiar to anyone who's seen "Thor: Ragnarok" — it basically sees Bruce Banner's alter-ego forced to fight as a gladiator for the planet's ruler, the Red King. By the end of the arc, in "Incredible Hulk" Vol. 2 #105, an enraged and newly-freed Hulk departs Sakaar and heads back to Earth with his new alien allies. Over the course of the ensuing "World War Hulk" storyline, the Hulk exacts his revenge upon the Illuminati, and in "World War Hulk" #4, after defeating the team in battle, he turns Madison Square Gardens into a gladiatorial arena and forces them to fight to the death. Only the Hulk's mercy spares them from their fate.

In 2010, Marvel released an animated adaptation of "Planet Hulk." The movie begins with the Illuminati's message to Hulk as he's blasted into space, and, just like in the comics, the group appears to be made up of Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic, and Black Bolt. For a long while, this was the first and only time the Illuminati had been depicted outside the pages of Marvel's comic books. Until...

It seems like every Marvel hero, villain, or team is getting some kind of MCU adaptation these days, from She-Hulk to Moon Knight to Blade to the Fantastic Four. So you'd be forgiven for wondering: when are we going to get an Illuminati project?

Yes, the Illuminati appeared in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," but that team existed in another reality, and there's still room for a version to be founded in the MCU's Earth-199999 universe. Some rumors have suggested this might happen in the future, too. In 2020, The Illuminerdi reported that Marvel Studios was in "the early stages" of developing an Illuminati project. Apparently, Kevin Feige was listed as producer (shocker) and the current working title was "Marvel's Illuminati." Unfortunately, the outlet was unable to reveal any more about the production.

For his part, Feige himself has voiced his excitement at bringing the team to the big screen. In a 2022 interview with Empire, the Marvel Studios head honcho said that he "loves" the Illuminati, but warned that, "if we ever introduce the Illuminati in the future, it might be more MCU-driven and have some more ties to our characters in the MCU, versus just replicating what's in the comics." However, it's hard to say whether he was teasing the version that showed up in "Multiverse of Madness," or whether he had another movie or series in mind. Truthfully, only one thing is certain: the exact nature of the Illuminati's cinematic future is as mysterious and secretive as the team itself.