Why Introducing Sleepwalker to the MCU Is Easier Than You Think

Sleepwalker is one of those guilty pleasure characters — someone just so out there and bizarre that you have no choice but to be enthralled by their story. In the somewhat likely chance you don’t know who he is, Sleepwalker was first introduced in the Summer of 1991 during the height of Marvel’s haphazard character renaissance by Bob Budiansky and Bret Blevins. Though he looks like a villain on the outside, Sleepwalker is a good guy, serving as one of the protectors of the Mindscape — the dimension where humans dream. Think of him as the anti-Freddy Kreuger in a sense.

So how would they introduce him to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Enter Doctor Strange 2, somewhere it’s almost too easy introducing the character. It’s been long speculated that Nightmare would be the antagonist of the mystic follow-up, giving us a way to introduce Sleepwalker to the live-action universe. You see, Nightmare is known for being ruler of Nightmare World, a realm within the Dream Dimension, another dream-like dimension separate for the Mindspace…because, comics.

With a little tweaking and retconning, Marvel Studios could easily make Nightmare World and the Mindscape warring worlds. In fact, let’s say that Nightmare wants to invade the Mindscape and in turn, giving him access to everyone’s dreams and in turn, the potential ability to take over whatever physical human bodies he could get his hand on. Think of it as the MCU’s version of Insidious, a look and feel that Scott Derrickson would be able to achieve with his background in horror.

If Nightmare was on the verge of taking over the Mindscape, perhaps Sleepwalker realizes it’s time to reach out to one of the most powerful sorcerers he knows, Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), to help out with the cause. It’s certainly a scenario in which you could introduce Brother Voodoo/Jericho Drumm, as he’d most definitely fit in with the spooky vibes.

Speaking of Derrickson, the Nightmare World and Mindscape battle is something he’d excel at. The filmmaker has never been afraid to speak about his faith throughout social media and with horror undertones, this would be an excellent “light” versus “dark” metaphor that he could do some great storytelling with.

Do you think Sleepwalker could make his way to the MCU at one point or another? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by hitting me up on Twitter at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!

Avengers: Endgame is now in theaters and will be followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 2nd.