‘Avengers 4’ Synopsis May Reveal How the MCU Illuminati is Formed

Marvel fans are buzzing with excitement – and confusion – about the first synopsis for the upcoming Avengers 4. And as it turns out, there could be quite a lot to unpack within those two sentences, including the formation of an iconic group.

The tentative synopsis, which you can check out below, hints at the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s heroes being tasked with protecting reality, and making some pretty ominous sacrifices along the way.

“A culmination of 22 interconnected films the fourth installment of the Avengers saga will draw audiences to witness the turning point of this epic journey. Our beloved heroes will truly understand how fragile this reality is and the sacrifices that must be made to uphold it.”

Considering the ending of Infinity War, the question of which Marvel characters will be charged with protecting that reality remains. And as fans of Marvel’s various comic relationships are sure to speculate, that “who” could end up being the Illuminati.

(No, not that Illuminati.)

For the uninitiated, the Illuminati is a small group of prominent Marvel Comics heroes, who are tasked with secretly helping maintain order within the universe. While the members of the group change from time to time, the core members include Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Professor X, Black Bolt, Namor, and Mister Fantastic.

As we speculated several times before Infinity War was released, it seemed as if the MCU was already taking on their own unique adaptation of the Illuminati within Infinity War, with Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wong (Benedict Wong), and Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) at the enter. And now that the film has been released, there’s certainly elements of that that could be true – although it looks like the group could end up taking a different shape.

Obviously, the end of Infinity War caused a lot of prominent Marvel characters to literally turn to dust, including Doctor Strange. But as some have already begun to hypothesize, there’s a chance that Doctor Strange somehow survived the events of Infinity War, and could return to help the other heroes find their “endgame” at some point in Avengers 4.

At the moment, it doesn’t seem out of the question that Doctor Strange and some of the remaining original Avengers could officially join forces as the Illuminati, as they try to determine what sacrifices they need to make. Sure, there’s no telling what that group could look like (even with a limited roster of characters surviving Infinity War), but fans would surely be curious to find out.

Do you want to see the MCU Illuminati be formed within Avengers 4? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Avengers 4 will land in theaters on May 3, 2019.