See First Official Look At Doctor Strange 2 Villain
We've got our first confirmed villain for the upcoming Doctor Strange 2!
This article is more than 2 years old
There have been some wild theories about who the Doctor Strange 2 villain is going to be. Chiwetel Ejiofor was teased for a less friendly return as Mordo in Doctor Strange‘s post-credits scene. In the meantime, there have been rumors that Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch would be the villain, that Chris Evans would play the evil Captain Hydra, and in July there was even a rumor the bad guy would be the sea monster Gargantos portrayed by Yenifer Molina. But now thanks to a promo, we know of at least one of the villains definitely showing up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and it’s one that’s been speculated for a while — the ancient entity Shuma-Gorath.
The reveal comes thanks to a promo from Booktopia. The promo is for an upcoming combination puzzle and coloring pad. The ad shows it as the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 24 page adult coloring pad and 1000 piece puzzle. On the cover the Sorcerer Supreme is battling the classic bad guy destined to be the Doctor Strange 2 villain, Shuma-Gorath. The combo puzzle/coloring book is due out in April 2022, about a month before the sequel’s release in theaters. You can see the promo image below.
Reports of Shuma-Gorath appearing as a Doctor Strange 2 villain surfaced earlier this year, but without confirmation. Those reports intensified with the appearance of a massive, tentacled beast that at least partly looked like Shuma-Gorath in the Disney+ animated series What If…? The Booktopia promo seems to confirm the ancient entity’s involvement, though obviously it doesn’t necessarily rule out other villains appearing. For example, considering the tease at the end of 2016’s Doctor Strange — and the fact that he’s probably Strange’s most constant rival in the source material — we can still bet good money on Mordo’s re-appearance.
First appearing in 1973’s Marvel Premiere #10, Shuma-Gorath is a godlike “Old One,” said to have come into being before the existence of time itself. With his massive form, his single eye, and many tentacles, the Doctor Strange 2 villain is inspired by many of the similarly ancient beings referred to in the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Strange and other heroes have been fighting him for decades in the comics, and he just recently showed and apparently died in Savage Avengers #23.
It will be interesting to see, among other things, exactly how this Doctor Strange 2 villain is brought to life on screen. With his cyclopean appearance, tentacles, and giant form, Shuma-Gorath has a lot in common visually with DC Comics’ Starro — the alien the eponymous anti-heroes of The Suicide Squad battle in Corto Maltese. If Shuma-Gorath is presented as he appears in the comics, there will likely be plenty of criticism leveled at Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘ filmmakers for not differentiating the two bad guys.
One possible solution may be to handle Shuma-Gorath the same way 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 handled Kurt Russell’s Ego. Rather than a humanoid, Ego is an actual planet with a giant face in the comics, but James Gunn chose to give him a different form. It wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Doctor Strange 2 filmmakers’ go the same route with their villain, though according to the promo he will be showing up at least once in his more classic form.
