The season finale of WandaVision set-up a villain that could be the one to defeat in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but it also brings some issues to the mix – here’s what happens. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been bringing a variety of characters from Marvel Comics to the big screen for over a decade, and now that the Infinity Saga came to an end, this universe can move forward with its next phase. What’s so exciting about the MCU’s Phase 4 is that it won’t only cover the movie side of it but also TV/streaming, and the studio has a lot of projects coming up in the realm of television.
First in line and kickstarting Phase 4 is WandaVision, a TV series focused on Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), following them as they live a seemingly happy and normal life in the town of Westview, New Jersey. Viewers quickly learned that things were not what they seemed in town and there was something obscure and tragic behind life at Westview – and to further complicate it, Wanda wasn’t the only being with powers in town, as her “nosy neighbor” Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) turned out to be Agatha Harkness, a powerful sorceress. It was through her that viewers were introduced to the Darkhold, a book that revealed the true power in Wanda, triggering her transformation into the Scarlet Witch.
The Darkhold is described by Agatha as the “Book of the Damned” and its principal author was Chthon, an Elder God (as in, one of the first beings to rule Earth) and the Earth’s first practitioner of black magic. Chthon’s connection to Wanda and everything that happened in WandaVision goes further than Agatha showing the book to Wanda (who is now in possession of it as seen in the post-credits scene of the season finale), as in the comics, Chthon was key in Wanda getting her powers. First, in one storyline, Wanda was born at Mount Wundagore, a place where the fabric of reality is very thin and which allowed Chthon to imbue baby Wanda with his own mystic power, thus why she’s the one sorceress to wield Chaos Magic. Although the Darkhold has been used to create a bunch of supernatural and dangerous creatures, such as vampires, the true purpose of the book is to grant Chthon a place on Earth, so the inclusion of the book in WandaVision could be setting up his arrival, most likely in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Now, given that WandaVision will directly tie into Doctor Strange 2, there was a lot of speculation over how the show could set up the big villain in Strange’s next adventure, and while there were some big candidates like Nightmare and even Dormammu, the safest bet right now is Chthon, but that isn’t exactly a good thing. Chthon is a massive presence, with a long and rich history, and whose presence on Earth and the MCU could bring an even bigger disaster than that of Thanos and his quest for the Infinity Stones, as his role is that of the God of Chaos. In fact, Chthon rarely appears in person in the comics – and his presence is mostly represented through his powers, such as demonic possession – as he’s such a big threat that the Avengers do everything in their power to avoid his escape. With WandaVision just subtly teasing his presence in the MCU, having him as the villain in Doctor Strange 2 would risk sending the MCU on a path it has been avoiding for years, which is one where its characters (both good and bad) are too hard to believe, introduced without much backstory, and a bit silly, not fully fitting with this universe’s style.
This is the same issue the Fantastic Four movies have had with Galactus, who was a bit too much to process and was handled quite poorly, with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer adding him as the real puppet master but only presenting him as a cosmic hurricane-like cloud. If Doctor Strange 2 is really going to use Chthon as its villain, the MCU would be taking a huge risk, as there’s a lot of history to tell and adapt, even if he’s an exciting villain that promises to bring a lot of conflict to this universe.