Does Doctor Strange 2's title confirm a classic villain?

From Digital Spy

A Doctor Strange sequel has been on the cards for some time now, although details about the film have been kept firmly under wraps… until now.

As expected, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige finally announced the Phase 4 slate during the studio’s Comic-Con panel over the weekend (July 20), one of the films being the brilliantly-titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Set for release on May 7, 2021, the follow-up promises to be the MCU's first “scary” movie, which makes a lot of sense considering director Scott Derrickson will return to take the helm.

With the likes of Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose under his belt, the filmmaker is no stranger to the genre, making him the perfect candidate to take the sequel down a horror route.

Feige also confirmed Benedict Cumberbatch will reprise his role as the titular sorcerer and will be joined by none other than Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, tying the film into Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ series WandaVision.

We can also expect Benedict Wong to return as Wong and battle with the mystic forces of the multiverse alongside Doctor Strange and Wanda.

As for the villain? The MCU are staying hush-hush on this for now, although a few theories are floating around already. And while there are plenty of big bads to pick from the Time Lord’s extensive history in the books, there’s one in particular who appears to be the strongest contender.

That villain is Nightmare.

Having made his first appearance in Strange Tales #110 back in 1963, you could described Nightmare as the Freddy Krueger of the Marvel Universe. He is able to pull the astral form of people from their sleep and drag them into his parallel Dream Dimension where he can torment them for his own sick pleasure.

He even managed to trap the Time Lord here (not the Timelord), that is until the Ancient One showed up to save her protege from imprisonment within the parallel realm.

The aptly titled supervillain was one of the first to have fought with the Mystical Master and is still to this day one of the most iconic antagonists of the Doctor Strange series.

The very nature of his wrongdoings has meant the character is often referred to as the Demon Prince of the Dreamscape, making him an ideal enemy to lead the MCU’s first horror flick. Think Pennywise and Krueger but with a mystical edge.

Another nightmarish trait of the villain’s is that just like the Infinity Stones, you can’t technically destroy him, as he is attached to human life via their dreams. The only way to eradicate him is to eradicate dreams, which would send humanity into disarray in the process.

In other words, he’s a tough opponent, and one that would prove a worthy match for the combined powers of both the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange.

So although the first movie seemed to set up Chiwetel Ejiofor's Mordo as the main antagonist of the sequel, there are plenty of reasons to suggest Nightmare is ready for his MCU close up, something Derrickson has expressed interest in before.

"I really like the character of Nightmare and the concept that the Nightmare Realm is a dimension," Derrickson told IGN. "That's early – that's like the first Strange tale. I think that's in the introductory episode of Doctor Strange, and I always loved that."

The director also revealed that the character was supposed to show up in the first movie, although the production team eventually decided against it.

“We decided not to do that because that’s a bit of a complex idea to try to introduce everything we do introduce and introduce the idea of nightmares themselves as being a dimension. I hope somewhere down the line we do get to explore that because I think that’s super cool concept.”

There’s no time like the present, especially now that the multiverse is open for business. Plus, an inter-dimensional trip into the nightmare realm could make for some fantastical visual action scenes if this is the direction Derrickson chooses to go with.

Of course, nothing’s set in the Time Stone just yet, but what we can say is that the title alone is enough to get us stoked about the possibilities for the sequel, as well as the MCU moving forward.

With infinite parallel universes to explore, an unrivalled canon of comicbook characters spanning decades of work, and a promise to be the scariest MCU flick to date, the impossibilities are endless when it comes to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

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