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Who Are Marvel’s Illuminati?
In the comics, the Illuminati consisted of, at varying times, Iron Man, Charles Xavier, Black Bolt (of Inhumans fame, or infamy if you only know them from the TV show), Doctor Strange, Reed Richards, Black Panther, Captain America, Beast, and Namor. They formed as the crises the Marvel Universe were facing were starting to get bigger and more difficult to deal with, and they’re formed by Tony Stark to act as a kind of superhuman United Nations, in the hope that collectively they could stop future threats before they get out of hand. At one point after the original Infinity Gauntlet, Reed entrusts each member with one of the Infinity Stones, figuring that made them less likely to ever be assembled again.
Now, obviously, an Illuminati roster like this can’t properly exist in the MCU as it currently stands. There’s not enough history there yet (even after 27 movies) and of course, several of these characters are unavailable for various reasons. But what if thanks to the newly-introduced rules of branching timelines and variants, a multiversal Illuminati exists? This would allow Patrick Stewart to return as the Professor X of the Fox X-Men movies, while not infringing on the ability of the MCU to create their own Charles and other mutants when they’re ready to do it.
Tony Stark sure is dead in the “sacred timeline” MCU, but a Tony Stark variant serving in the Illuminati would allow for Robert Downey Jr. to show his face again, while Marvel Studios once again laughs all the way to the bank.
Namor has yet to be introduced in the MCU, but there has been ongoing speculation that he’s due to make his first appearance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with Atlantis serving as a rival nation to T’Challa’s kingdom. There’s no reason Stephen Strange (or one of his variants) couldn’t serve on this version of the Illuminati, and perhaps Multiverse of Madness will basically be how he is recruited. It’s possible that whatever that high-tech HQ where we hear Xavier address Strange is actually Illuminati HQ, in some corner of the multiverse.
In fact, at one moment in the trailer, you can see Strange being brought into some kind of throne room. There are six seats, two of which are occupied by indistinguishable figures. A third is entering, but it’s hard to tell who it is. They appear to have longer hair and a sword on their back, so is it possible that Mordo is a member of the Illuminati?
The Fantastic Four?
While some fans seem to think that the flaming figure we briefly see blaze across the screen is the Human Torch, we’re pretty sure that isn’t the case, as the silhouette looks a little more like Captain Marvel when she’s all powered up. That being said, Reed Richards is an essential piece of the Illuminati, and it’s easy to imagine a new Reed being introduced (nobody needs to see Miles Teller’s face Reed ever again) as the head of this organization. It would also neatly explain why we haven’t met the Fantastic Four in the MCU yet…perhaps they originated in the “sacred timeline” but have been off exploring the multiverse for the last 20 years or so.
Source: Den of Geek
