The trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness supports the oldest theory about the movie’s villain. Though nothing has been confirmed, it appears that the adversary Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) will be going up against in the movie is Nightmare. In the comics, Nightmare is a powerful, otherworldly being who roams through people’s dreams and tortures them in their sleep.
Being an enemy of the Sorcerer Supreme, he was counted amongst several other names as candidates for Doctor Strange 2’s villain. Marvel has guarded the details of the movie’s plot so well that even now, it’s still not completely clear who’s truly responsible for the “Multiverse of Madness”. Through appearances from Marvel’s What If….?’s Evil Doctor Strange, Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and Shuma-Gorath, the Doctor Strange 2 trailer has provided plenty of options. However, none of these appears to be the central antagonist. For now, this character’s identity will remain Doctor Strange 2’s greatest mystery.
While the trailer doesn’t mention or show him, it does build evidence for Nightmare being the villain. Strange suffering from nightmares and talking about experiencing the same dream every night certainly sound like he’s become a target of the character. If Nightmare is eventually confirmed, that would debunk several major theories about Doctor Strange 2’s story. For a while now, speculation has been swirling around characters like Mephisto, Chthon, Shuma-Gorath, and even the heroes themselves – Strange and Scarlet Witch – somehow turning out be to the movie’s big bad. But interestingly, the Nightmare theories predate all of these ideas. He was under suspicion from the very beginning.
Nightmare was the top candidate for Doctor Strange 2’s villain as early as 2018, before an official title was even announced. Much of that stemmed from the fact that he was discussed on more than one occasion by Scott Derrickson, who directed the first movie and was supposed to helm the sequel. In fact, it was said at one point that Nightmare was almost in Doctor Strange, but the plan changed. Many believed that since Derrickson didn’t ultimately include him the first time around, he was a safe bet for the second movie.
Conversations shifted a bit when Sam Raimi took over and WandaVision premiered. The show’s obvious setup for Chthon joining the MCU and multiple misdirects involving Mephisto distracted from Nightmare and made him go from the heavy favorite to just one of several possibilities. But after the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer, the attention is finally back on Nightmare again – and for good reason. Invading dreams and slowly tormenting his victims is Nightmare’s modus operandi in the comics. Since that matches up well with what Strange will be dealing with when he returns, the movie’s oldest villain theory may have been right all along.
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