When Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was revealed, and it was noted that we would indeed go to various worlds in the Marvel multiverse, many wondered who would show up and in what capacity. Then, when it was revealed in a teaser that the Illuminati (in one form) would be appearing, many guessed who would be on the “council”. As it turned out, this was far and away one of the best parts of the movie, as the film delved deep into comics lore, including how they handled their Captain Marvel variant.
Because in the core universe (confirmed in the film to be like the comics, Marvel-616), we know Captain Marvel to be Carol Danvers, who was a key part of the end of Phase 3 of the MCU. But in the 838 universe, the Captain Marvel on the Illuminati was none other than Maria Rambeau. Yes, Maria, not Monica who is going to be getting her own time in films via next years The Marvels.
Maria Rambeau was seen in the Captain Marvel movie as Carol Danvers best friend and fellow pilot in the Air Force, so seeing her here in Multiverse of Madness was indeed a shock.
Ironically, this was not a “deep cut” Marvel Comics reference because Maria in the comics was honestly nothing more than a civilian. However, her daughter, Monica, did become a version of Captain Marvel in the comics until she became her own hero in Photon.
So why do things this way? Well, as the Illuminati itself showed, they were doing both an “honoring” and a “reshuffling” of the deck in terms of the roster. Such as how they had two women on the council, and they never had that in the comics.
It also would’ve been plot-wise difficult to put Monica in the role due to how her and Wanda interacted in WandaVision. So it was a fun twist on things…even if it ended badly for the Illuminati as a whole.
Source: ScreenRant
