Doctor Strange 2 Illuminati: why did they fall so fast?

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen, introduces major variants from across the MCU in the form of the Illuminati. They're a superhero group who have turned their Earth into a utopia, complete with free food. They get taken out quickly, but I don't think that makes them a bunch of chumps. I'd argue their fast exit was properly thought out.

Before the movie released, the Illuminati were easily the most anticipated part of it. For the best part of a year, everyone was guessing who would be in the lineup. The guesses ranged from Tom Cruise's Superior Iron Man to Jonathan Majors as Iron Lad. When a shot of Professor X's shoulder appeared, the internet went wild. Then came a shot of his hand, and then Captain Carter's shield. There's a lot to cover with this team: the full lineup, how the movie changes things from the comics, and why their quick deaths make sense.

How Marvel's Illuminati began in the comics in New Avengers #7

The group first appeared in the comics in New Avengers issue 7, which built up to Civil War. Over the years, the group worked from the shadows controlling major events. The members were Namor, the king of Atlantis; Tony Stark, aka Iron Man; Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic; Black Bolt, leader of the Inhumans; Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme; and Professor X, leader of the X-Men. Black Panther was also going to be a member, but he stepped away because he believed their agenda would cause issues.

Between them, the members covered every aspect of Earth. The Atlanteans were represented, Tony and Reed showed the science and space side of the superhero community, and the Inhumans, wizards and mutants all had a voice. Each member had a foot in some part of the planet's progress and counted as one vote for their people.

The group formed after the Kree-Skrull War. Tony realized that not being united had led to a difficult conflict. Each member had their own knowledge of certain parts of the alien race, but because they didn't work together, the war raged on when they could have easily stopped it. From then on, every time there was a big event in the comics, the group met and decided what to do. Over the years, though, they started to disagree, and that led to internal conflicts.

Why the Illuminati sent the Hulk into space before Civil War

Arguably the most devastating moment came when the group united to decide what to do with the Hulk. He had just destroyed Las Vegas, so they came up with a plan to trick Bruce into traveling into space to help defeat a rogue AI. After he completed the mission, they told him he was too dangerous to have on Earth and blasted him off into space. They claimed they'd picked out a peaceful planet for him to live on, but that was a lie. The planet was Sakaar, which led into the events of Planet Hulk.

On Sakaar, the Hulk became a gladiator, overthrew the emperor and ruled the planet. Then his ship exploded and killed his wife, so he returned to Earth angry and on a quest for vengeance. That led into World War Hulk, which Namor had predicted would happen.

Everything came to a head just before Civil War, which required superhumans to register their names with the government. Tony correctly predicted that rising tensions between humanity and the heroes meant someone would one day make a mistake that caused so much backlash that heroes would end up outlawed. That happened, and to avoid a war, Tony became the face of the Superhuman Registration Act. The arguments over whether this was right caused so much tension that the group dissolved. They reformed for some major events later, but they were never the same. Their arrogance led to their downfall, and that is mirrored in the movie.

Why Reed Richards underestimated Wanda: my theory

One big criticism I've seen of the film is that Reed reveals Black Bolt's power to Wanda, even though he's meant to be the smartest man on Earth. My theory is that he does this because he assumes he's dealing with the same Wanda from his reality. We know the Wanda in their dimension has her kids, so she likely never went through the events of Westview and probably had them by some other means.

Tony also doesn't seem to be alive in this reality, so the Age of Ultron we saw didn't happen there. We do see Ultron bots, but these were probably created by Reed and didn't have the personality issues Tony brought to them. Because the evil Ultron story didn't happen, Vision was likely never created either. Thanos was also killed by the Illuminati on Titan, so even if Vision does exist, Thanos wouldn't have killed him to get the Mind Stone.

Without that, the events of Westview wouldn't have happened. Wanda never became the Scarlet Witch and never got the Darkhold, so her power there is probably still at Age of Ultron level. That's why Reed doesn't see her as a threat. In Age of Ultron, we even saw her struggling to fight Ultron bots at one point, which is likely why the Illuminati leave it to the bots instead of going straight out. When Strange is being interrogated, he tells them she's coming, and they shrug it off. Their hubris makes them think that because they handled Thanos, they can easily handle Wanda.

Mordo and Captain Carter in the Illuminati lineup

The lineup pulls from different parts of the Marvel universe. First is Mordo, who replaced Supreme Strange as the magic side. Next is Captain Carter, whose origin story we saw in What If. She can do this all day, or for about five minutes.

I don't believe she's the version we met in What If. In that show, Peggy took the super soldier serum instead of Steve. When she tackled the giant octopus creature, which was either Gargantos or Shuma-Gorath, she was transported into the present. At the time we knew she would be back for season two of What If, and the show ended with her coming across a frozen Steve Rogers. So my guess was that the What If version is slightly different from the one in the film.

Why Maria Rambeau is Captain Marvel in this universe

In this universe, Captain Marvel is Maria Rambeau instead of Carol Danvers. I think this one is simple to explain, and it involves a change in who took the Project Pegasus flight. In Captain Marvel, Maria and Carol were both called to the base on the morning of the test run, but we learned that Carol took a shortcut and got there first. I think that in this universe, Carol stuck to the main road and arrived second, so Maria took the flight instead.

At the end of her first solo movie, Carol flew into space with the Skrulls, whereas Maria remained on Earth because she had a daughter. I think that's the same reason Maria is in the Illuminati: rather than going into space, she stayed behind to be with her kid and to protect her planet.

Black Bolt and Patrick Stewart's Professor X

Next is Black Bolt, who appears in his comic accurate costume, complete with the tuning fork. He makes a mind blowing appearance. For anyone who hasn't seen the Inhumans, his power lies solely in his voice. In the same way that Cyclops from the X-Men shoots uncontrollable blasts from his eyes, when Black Bolt speaks, devastating sound ripples tear apart anything in front of him.

Then there's Professor X, once more played by Patrick Stewart. He's ripped right out of the '90s cartoon, arriving in his yellow chair and green suit. He seems like the usual Xavier we've encountered in the Fox franchise, and he's far more on Strange's side than the others are. Being a telepath lets him know instantly that this Strange is telling the truth, and he even gives some advice before attempting to confront Wanda. This may potentially be the version from the cartoon.

I know one of the big criticisms of the movie is that Xavier goes out like a chump. But he's died loads of times before, so who knows, maybe this version is still alive. He can also use variants of himself. I hoped he'd be back in a more expanded role in the future.

Reed Richards, the Baxter Foundation and the smartest man on Earth

Lastly there's Reed Richards, the smartest man on Earth. Reed lives a lovely life with his wife and two kids, but sadly by the end of the film Sue is left a single mother. This Reed created the Baxter Foundation, and his scientific mind has produced several advances in technology that put this Earth far ahead of 616. He discovered teleportation, and though we don't meet the other Fantastic Four members, they are likely out there.

Another big issue people have with the film is that Reed is meant to be the smartest man on Earth but doesn't act like it. To that I'd say: "being called the smartest man on earth and actually being the smartest man on earth are two different things." You see it all the time when successful people get called stupid and respond along the lines of, how can I be stupid, I'm Ronald McDonald with over a million restaurants.

I think it's the same with Reed. That's why he completely ignored Strange's warning that the witch was coming: he thinks he's the smartest man on Earth.

Why the Illuminati die so quickly in Multiverse of Madness

The last big criticism is that they were all taken out within about three minutes, and that it's a waste to introduce these characters only to kill them straight away. My answer is this: "I think this was all done purely to show how powerful Wanda is." No matter how good the team she's fighting, she can tear through them if she needs to, and that elevates the threat.

At the time I was certain that these characters, or versions of them, would be back, and seeing them die like this adds danger to their return. We now know they're not invincible, so the stakes are higher for their solo movies. The Fantastic Four film was in production, so Reed would be back. There was already a version of Captain Marvel, the Inhumans series existed for anyone brave enough, and although no X-Men movie had been announced, Captain Carter had What If. It's not as though these characters were never going to be seen again.

Wanda in this film is like the Terminator, and I think this scene is essentially the police station scene from the first Terminator movie. You think it's safe, the Terminator shows up, kills everyone and shows Sarah that not even the authorities can protect her. In my opinion, it's a nice way of building up the threat.