Beware, Doctor Strange 2’s X-Men Reveal Might Be Another Trick

The Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer has a significant reveal with Professor X and the X-Men, but it may be another Marvel Cinematic Universe trick. The Doctor Strange 2 trailer was one big information dump about the mysterious upcoming film. In the trailer, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) confronts Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) about her antics with the Multiverse, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) teams up with Stephen Strange to fight across universes, and Ultron bots apparently show up to bring Doctor Strange to a trial. At the trial, a "Mystery Voice" says, "We should tell him the truth." The voice seemingly belongs to Patrick Stewart's Professor X, so the moment finally brings the X-Men to the MCU.

Marvel previously toyed with the X-Men appearing in the MCU. In Disney+'s WandaVision, Evan Peters appears as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver. It was a shocking cameo that had fans speculating the X-Men would soon appear in the MCU. However, the WandaVision season 1 ending revealed that wasn't the case. In the finale, Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau discovers Pietro is secretly a civilian named Ralph Bohner. Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) was simply controlling him with a magical necklace. And just like that, the X-Men were gone.

Though Doctor Strange 2's X-Men reveal seems significant, there could still be a twist. The Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer had the internet buzzing about the X-Men finally appearing in Marvel's films. After all, Disney finalized its purchase of Fox entertainment assets in 2019, so the MCU has had the rights to the X-Men for years. But Ralph Bohner shows Marvel is willing to simply tease about the X-Men instead. Considering Marvel's trickery with Ralph Bohner, Professor X appearing in the Doctor Strange 2 trailer isn't entirely what it seems.

Is Professor X’s Doctor Strange 2 Trailer Appearance Another Marvel X-Men Fakeout?

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Showing Professor X is a surprisingly significant leak for a trailer, so it might be another MCU red herring. Marvel is notoriously secretive when it comes to movie spoilers, being overly protective of everything from character names to actors' haircuts. Bringing the X-Men to the MCU is no small reveal, so there's definitely something else going on that Marvel fans don't know. Of course, WandaVision had fans thinking the X-Men were finally in the MCU before Marvel ultimately pulled the rug out from under them. Until Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness releases and Patrick Stewart's Professor X is in plain view, viewers should be wary.

Professor X May Retcon Ralph Bohner’s Quicksilver Deception

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Interestingly, the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness reveal could also fix the MCU's past mistakes. The Ralph Bohner moment was controversial among WandaVision viewers. Some thought it was a funny reveal, but other fans felt duped. After all, Marvel essentially took the X-Men away from the MCU to make an adult joke with Ralph Bohner's name. But the MCU loves retconning its past moments, so a Professor X reveal could even put Ralph Bohner in a new light, perhaps revealing he was a mutant all along. Regardless, there's undoubtedly more to the Professor X reveal in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness than the trailer shows.

The Multiverse Lets Characters Cross Universes Consequence-Free

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The real beauty of the multiverse is that it ultimately doesn't matter whether Patrick Stewart's Professor X return in Doctor Strange 2 is a fake-out or not. Because the multiverse is inherently and necessarily an ever-changing, incomprehensible web of possibilities, any number of characters can appear (or not appear), and it won't really affect the main Earth-616 MCU timeline. In short, the multiverse is its own chaotic character. Trying to fit the events and characters of Fox's X-Men movies into the regular MCU would be extremely difficult, but they can easily appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness without Marvel actually having to do so. In fact, Professor X's appearance in the trailer could be both a deception and a genuine tease: the X-Men might not truly be joining the MCU, but that won't prevent variants of them from cropping up within the multiverse – and the multiverse itself is a legitimate component of the MCU's ongoing canon. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness could well see some X-Men, including Professor X, return in a sense. But they might not become lasting MCU additions.

More: Why Doctor Strange 2 Trailer Confirms One Character Won’t Come Back