Doctor Strange 2 Fan Theory Imagines the Perfect MCU Intro for Shuma-Gorath

Now that Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a major player within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's but a matter of time before the live-action world bursts at the seams with the sorcerer's larger-than-life antagonists. We got a tease of that with Dormammu during the events of Doctor Strange, and another fan theory growing in popularity online suggests we could end up seeing the Lord of Chaos itself — Shuma-Gorath.

If you've followed the comics story of the Sorcerer Supreme for a moment, you'll recognize Gorath as the massive, one-eyed adversary that has tentacles sprouting from its eye every which way. Now, the theory suggests Shuma-Gorath will be the one hoping to rip open the fabric that separates the different realities of this universe, and it'll bring some heavy firepower with it.

Before we get much longer, this popular Reddit post was initially shared as an image-board "leak" of the Doctor Strange sequel. While such postings are all but guaranteed to be fake, the story laid out is so intriguing we're treating it as theory, only because it's actually somewhat plausible as a storyline.

The theorist says Shuma-Gorath wants to possess America Chavez because the alternate-reality hero has the ability to create portals between dimseions. Because of this danger — plus the use of Nightmare as an extra agent of chaos — Strange is forced to form a super team of magic practitioners, including Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Wong (Benedict Wong), Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Clea, and Brother Voodoo, all in attempt to stop Shuma-Gorath from destroying all realities.

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS from r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers

Better yet, the theory meshes with Marvel's idea of turning the sequel into a darker movie than what we've seen before from the House of Ideas.

"I mean, there are horrifying sequences in Raiders that I as a little kid would [cover my eyes] when their faces melted. Or Temple of Doom, of course, or Gremlins, or Poltergeist," studio head Kevin Feige previously said of the sequel's tone. "These are the movies that invented the PG-13 rating, by the way. They were PG and then they were like, 'We need another [rating].' But that's fun. It's fun to be scared in that way, and not a horrific, torturous way, but a way that is legitimately scary — because Scott Derrickson is quite good at that — but scary in the service of an exhilarating emotion."

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently set for release on March 25, 2022.

What other mystical Marvel beasts would you like to see in the upcoming Strange follow-up? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!