Friends, there is something you should know before you read any further. I am not a prolific Marvel guesser. Every time I expect there to be a huge twist, Marvel plays it straight, and every time I expect things to be nice and predictable, Marvel pulls the rug out from under me. I confess, I am not the best person in the world when it comes to figuring out what’s going to happen in comic book movies. Nevertheless! I will not be deterred. That’s why I have another surefire prediction for you today. That Doctor Strange you just saw in the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer? Why, that’s not Doctor Strange at all! In fact, it’s… well, I think there are three people it could be. I’ll give you my theories in reverse order; that is to say, this is the order I think is most likely, but since I’m often wrong, chances are the character I don’t think it is is probably the character it actually is. Confused? Good. Let’s begin.
Agatha Harkness Is Doctor Strange
I may have made several incorrect Agatha Harkness predictions during WandaVision, but I am now firmly back on my bullshit. There is zero chance that we’ve seen the last of Agatha in the MCU, so it really is a matter of when rather than if.
It’s not just because I’m such a fan of Agatha - and her actor, Kathryn Hahn - that I suspect Agatha is back. There are some genuine clues in the trailer, but these may be either red herrings or me spotting patterns where there are none.
Thanks to the ever reliable memes, Agatha’s showy wink has become a key part of her character. In the trailer, we see Strange wink at Peter Parker. This is less of a stretch than it seems, with Strange clearly winking into the lens as he Jim’s the camera with showmanship much more befitting of Agatha than Strange. There’s also no real connection established between Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange, aside from magic. They need a reason to team up in Multiverse of Madness, and having Agatha steal Strange’s identity would be a great way to do that. Of course, with Wanda being steered towards a villain arc, it may be that it’s less of a team up and more of a hunt - still, Agatha does help connect the dots.
Whether we think it’s Harkness or not though, can we agree this doesn’t really seem like Strange? The wink to Peter, the flair with the fireplace, the hoodie, the lying to Wong point-blank for the sake of impressing a teenager? Something is definitely up, right?
Mephisto Is Doctor Strange
Yep, another Mephisto theory. I know the devil in disguise has been central to so many MCU theories that have gone precisely nowhere, but this one does make quite a bit of sense. Sooner rather than later, Mephisto is surely coming to the MCU. Both WandaVision and Loki heavily teased his arrival, only to suddenly switch gears. This time though, we might actually get to see him.
For one thing, ‘the devil in disguise’ is literally in the trailer; it’s written on a sign someone is holding up about Peter. Perhaps more compellingly, No Way Home is clearly taking cues from One More Day, a comic where Mephisto erases everyone’s memory that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Of course, WandaVision took a lot of inspiration from The House of M and yet starred Agatha Harkness as a central villain - the MCU borrows from comic storylines and turns them around all the time, but still, Mephisto seems like a good shout.
Mordo Is Doctor Strange
Clearly, the storyline is inspired by Mephisto, but unless Spidey interrupted some grand plan of his, messing with Peter Parker seems like it would be pretty low down Mephisto’s to-do list. It’s much more in Mordo’s wheelhouse.
Mordo first appeared in the original Doctor Strange movie, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Initially, he was Strange’s ally before undergoing a heelturn at the end of the film. He’s been confirmed for a return in Multiverse of Madness, where he will likely go head to head with Strange and Wanda, since he thinks the world has “too many sorcerers.” Of course, if he really believes that, messing about with magic to screw with Peter probably isn’t the smartest thing in the world - but he wouldn’t be the first hypocritical villain in the MCU.
Doctor Strange Is Doctor Strange
A two part theory here. First part: I’m completely wrong and it’s just Doctor Strange, the real Doctor Strange, either more schticky than we’ve seen before, or made to look that way in the trailer in order to inspire bozos like me to write theories up. Second part: It’s Doctor Strange Jim, but not as we know him. The multiverse is wide open after Loki, and that means there are lots of different versions of each character running about the place. Strange is most likely to understand and cross between the multiverses, so it makes sense that if the MCU is heading that way, Strange would be the lead-off hitter. Whether he’s good, bad, or somewhere in between remains to be seen.
Of course, it could end up just being, like, a Skrull or something, but Spidey did that once in Spider-Man: Far From Home, so probably not. You’ve been calling for Doctor Strange to appear in every MCU project this year, and when he finally does, I tell you he’s not the real Strange. Don’t worry though - I’m probably wrong.