The director of Captain America: Brave New World confirmed the exclusion of one past MCU superteam.
A week into its run in theaters, Captain America 4 has been a major talking point among MCU fans after initially receiving a myriad of mixed reviews.
One aspect of the movie that was a misfire for many was the post-credit sequence, which did little to set up the future in any substantial way. However, a new report has indicated why that stinger may have been purposefully hazy.
Marvel Scrapped Illuminati Plans in Captain America 4
The Wrap asked director Julius Onah specifically about scrapped ideas to feature The Illuminati in Captain America: Brave New World, something that was seemingly a part of the plan at one point.
Specifically, the outlet asked him, "Who was in your Illuminati?" following the team's Earth-838 appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Without giving away too much about past scripts, Onah said, "I'm not going to say," and added that the post-credits scene, featuring The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in the Raft, was "purposely left vague:"
"I'm not going to say! I’m not going to say (laughs). Let’s just say things are purposely left vague in that post-credit for a reason."
While not a direct confirmation, it seems like Onah may have been indicating the unused idea for The Illuminati in Brave New World could have been in a post-credits scene. The fourth Captain America film notably only had one post-credits scene, skipping over the popular mid-credits tease.
If The Illuminati did appear in a Cap 4 post-credits scene, that could have been more in line with other Multiverse-centric teases fans have seen in the past. Specifically, The Marvels showcased an unknown reality where Kelsey Grammer returned as a fully CGI Beast and most of the X-Men seemed alive and well.
Another way of interpreting Onah's response is that Samuel Sterns' monologue to Sam in the scene was about an interaction of The Illuminati. More specifically, when Sterns ominously (albeit open-endly) mentions "the others:"
"All you heroes protecting this world, you think you're the only ones. You think this is the only world...We’ll see what happens when you have to protect this place… from the others."
The initial question asked by the outlet was apt, as the Earth-838 crew shown in Doctor Strange 2 was decimated by Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch.
This means that a past script of Brave New World likely featured an entirely new roster of The Illuminati, from another alternative dimension. While some may be disappointed this wasn't the post-credit scene instead of The Leader, this quote should give fans hope that the secretive world-saver may return in the future.
Will The Illuminati Return To The MCU?
The Illuminati's return to the MCU seems highly plausible, especially given the ongoing Multiverse storyline and the team's potential role in preventing events like the Incursions.
Onah's vague comments about a scrapped Illuminati appearance in Cap 4 hinted the team could make a reappearance. With the MCU's Phase 6 on the horizon, particularly Avengers: Secret Wars, Doctor Strange, who is deeply connected to the multiverse, seems like a natural leader in assembling a new Illuminati.
While the first MCU Illuminati of Earth-838 was destroyed by Scarlet Witch, the MCU's Multiverse offers endless possibilities for new teams to emerge from alternate realities.
An Illuminati team based on Earth-616 could see a diverse group of members, such as Doctor Strange, Smart Hulk, Shuri, or maybe even Loki, who could bring the secret to saving the multiverse. After the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it's also impossible to rule out Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards (who replaced John Krasinski in the MCU).
In theory, this revamped group could play a central role in Doomsday or Secret Wars, bridging the cosmic and mutant realms to combat the growing dangers of a fractured multiverse.
Captain America: Brave New World Is playing in theaters worldwide.
