Doctor Strange 2 Easter egg may confirm a cosmic villain’s role in the MCU

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is going to have some truly weird villains. From its take on Shuma-Gorath/Gargantos to an amorphous villain who may or may not be Cyttorak, Multiverse of Madness promises to bring some of the oddest antagonists in Marvel history to life on the big screen.

Those aren’t the only cosmic villains who may appear. Some fans believe an Easter egg in the film’s latest poster may actually give them their first look at the MCU version of a truly formidable comic book villain, one who’s long been rumored to have a secret role in Multiverse of Madness.

A Creepy Easter Egg — The newest poster for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is full of exciting Easter eggs, including Captain Carter’s shield and a blurry figure some fans believe could be Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. In one of the poster’s many falling shards of glass, there’s even a shot of a creature that looks like it was pulled straight out of a Guillermo del Toro film.

While it’s impossible to know for sure, one of the leading fan theories is that the figure may be none other than Chthon. In the comics, the character is not only one of Marvel’s Elder Gods, but also the malevolent being responsible for the creation of the Darkhold.

If that really is him in the Multiverse of Madness poster, it’s possible the Doctor Strange sequel is going to explore the origins of both the Darkhold and Wanda Maximoff’s dangerous chaos magic.

The Demon of the Darkhold — Chthon has been depicted in a variety of ways in the comics. Some artists have imagined him as a humanoid figure, while others have drawn him as a Cthulhu-esque monstrosity. If this creature really is Chthon, then it seems safe to say that Marvel has chosen to embrace the latter version of the character, which would make sense considering the Doctor Strange sequel’s obvious cosmic horror ambitions.

That said, Chthon would work as a villain in Multiverse of Madness regardless of his design. Not only is he the creator of the Darkhold, the demonic book that seems to be corrupting Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda, but he’s also the source of Wanda’s chaos magic. He has a long history with Wanda and has attempted to use her as a vessel for him to re-enter the prime material plane.

This is all to say that Chthon would make a lot of sense as a villain in Multiverse of Madness. He’s a being with ties to some of the film’s biggest characters and plot points, and he’s just as weird and scary as many of the stranger things that have already been shown in previous trailers. If Marvel does plan on introducing Chthon to the MCU, there’s no better film to do that in than Multiverse of Madness.

The Inverse Analysis — Marvel fans have been talking about the arrival of Chthon in the MCU ever since the Darkhold was introduced in WandaVision. It doesn’t look like that’s going to stop anytime soon, and it would certainly make sense for Chthon to appear this year in Multiverse of Madness.

Whether the Elder God actually does show up is another matter entirely. He’s a figure who could help flesh out some important MCU lore and send Multiverse of Madness into true cosmic horror territory, but he’s also the kind of character who could potentially steal some of the spotlight away from Wanda Maximoff.

Then again, a recent Marvel comics run did see Wanda using the Darkhold to weaken and absorb Chthon, so it’s possible Marvel could do something similar in Multiverse of Madness. We won’t know for sure until it’s released in theaters this May.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters on May 6, 2022.