This Doctor Strange Theory Is The Best Multiverse of Madness Villain Twist

screenrant.com:

Stephen Strange himself could be the real villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. There's a sense in which Marvel Studios has been building up to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness since the beginning of the MCU's Phase 4. WandaVision positioned Wanda Maximoff for her role in the film, while Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home doubled down on the multiversal themes. Now, Doctor Strange 2's trailers are deliberately leaving more questions than answers — including over just who the real villain could be.

There's been intense speculation Scarlet Witch herself could be the villain, with several shots in the trailers showing her costume darkening as she reads the book of forbidden magic called the Darkhold. In the comics, this ancient tome is tied to the Elder God Chthon — as is the Chaos Magic Wanda Maximoff now wields, perhaps suggesting he could be the true villain. But trailers have also shown another Elder God, Shuma-Gorath, with merchandise confirming he's been renamed Gargantos — likely because Marvel don't own the rights to the name Shuma-Gorath. They've also hinted at the Nightmare Dimension, meaning Strange could well find himself going up against its ruler, a powerful being called Nightmare. Marvel's best trailers are designed to conceal as much as they reveal, and the ones for Doctor Strange 2 are doing the job well.

Related: Why Doctor Strange & Scarlet Witch Become Zombies In Multiverse of Madness

But there is one final possibility — that the villain of the film has been teased in trailers right from the start, and his name appears in the title. It's possible Stephen Strange is himself the cause of the multiverse of madness. What's more, there have been hints in trailers and TV spots that