Iman Vellani Has an Idea for Who Should Be the Next Big Marvel Villain in the MCU

By Timothy Adams

Iman Vellani, the star of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, knows who should be the next big villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thanos recently served as the MCU's "Big Bad" during the Infinity Saga, with Iron Man sacrificing himself to defeat the Mad Titan in Avengers: Endgame. Loyal Marvel fans have speculated on which villain could step into Thanos' Eternal-sized shoes to replace him. Several Disney+ projects like WandaVision have led to fans speculating on Mephisto joining the MCU, but so far nothing has materialized. The Ms. Marvel star appears to be siding with fans, as she also wants to finally give them what they've been asking for.

Ms. Marvel herself participated in a Reddit AMA, where she was asked what she would do if given control of the next phase of the MCU. "ooooooooh, oka okay i wanna see the Time runs out series play out that would be fun and give the fans what they really want...," Vellani teased, before finally responding with a one-word answer: "Mephisto."

Marvel's version of the Devil was the top pick to be the main villain in WandaVision, the first Marvel series to premiere on Disney+. Of course, the central antagonist turned out to be Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness. Some fans even wondered if Mephisto would turn up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As viewers of the Doctor Strange sequel learned, WandaVision's Scarlet Witch turned out to be the film's villain instead.

Iman Vellani also namedropped "Time Runs Out," a story arc in Jonathan Hickman's Avengers/New Avengers run in the lead-up to Secret Wars. The expectation is that Secret Wars will be the next big event in the MCU, and the Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo have discussed on multiple occasions their appreciation for the story.

"Our love for Marvel is based on the books that we read as kids, the ones that we fell in love with," Joe Russo told Deadline. "The one series that we adored growing up was Secret Wars. It's incredibly ambitious; it would be bigger than Infinity War and Endgame, but it's a massive undertaking, and those two movies were very hard to make, so trying to imagine making another two movies even bigger than those two? We're going to have to sleep on it."

Where would you like to see Mephisto show up in the MCU? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! All episodes of Ms. Marvel are now streaming on Disney+.

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