Doctor Strange 2 Casts An Unexpected Marvel Villain?

Doctor Strange 2 just added a lesser known and unexpected villain to the mix for the next movie. It's a Marvel deep cut for sure.

By Doug Norrie | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness set to possibly turn the Marvel Cinematic Universe on its head with what could be a scary movie with wide-ranging implications for the franchise, every little bit of casting news counts these days. And we might have gotten a bit of a clue about a new villain entering the universe in Doctor Strange 2. Comicbook.com has uncovered, with the help of some internet sleuthing by @DrStrangeUpdate, that the character of Gargantos will be appearing in the next movie. 

The character of Gargantos looks like she will be played by Yenifer Molina, though this is still likely only a rumor. There are a couple of reasons this is odd at this point though likely only in the context of what’s been reported already for Doctor Strange 2. In the comic books, Gargantos is an underwater, octopus-like creature that works for Naga. The latter is a resident of Lemuria, an underwater civilization often featured in other comic books. In this way, there’s an association with Namor the Submariner who will apparently be an antihero/ villain in the universe moving forward. But he hadn’t been associated with this film so far. 

If Gargantos was appearing in Doctor Strange 2, there would undoubtedly be at least a moderate underwater element to the movie. How that plays in along these character lines is tough to figure, but considering we are dealing with the multiverse, the options are almost limitless for how things take shape. The flick is set to bring in Shuma-Gorath as the main villain for the film, an ancient demon that takes the form of a tentacled, octopus-like creature. He is an intimidating force for sure. The one Gargantos overlap here would be that, on a physical level, they do somewhat look alike. How that would play into things isn’t clear. 

There is still quite a bit about Doctor Strange 2 that we don’t know at this point. Plot details and how things connect to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe have been kept tightly under wraps. What is known, or at least suspected, is that this sequel as well as Spider-Man: No Way Home will deal with the multiverse and incorporate large swaths of the Marvel Universe into the storylines. 

Doctor Strange 2

In addition to this possible addition of Gargantos to the story and Shuma-Morath providing a not-insubstantial threat to Stephen Strange and company, we also know that Elizabeth Olsen will be reprising her Wanda Maximoff/ Scarlet Witch role as well. At first, it was suspected she would come on the wrong side of things in Doctor Strange 2, especially after the events of WandaVision, but that isn’t looking like the case as we move forward with her character. There’s a chance at some friction there, especially if she’s leaning into the darker side of her character, but she and Strange likely team up by the end. 

Doctor Strange 2 will also introduce Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez, a character who has the power to open interdimensional portals, likely a major power when it comes to the multiverse. This movie is set to be a complete Marvel event, replete with characters from all over the comic book map. And now we are going to see even lesser-used characters like Gargantos.