The first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The Multiverse is a concept that has existed in comics for decades now, and it's just recently making its debut in the MCU. It has been hinted at in projects like Loki before exhibiting some Earth-shattering consequences for Peter Parker in his most recent outing. Since its announcement at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Multiverse of Madness has been hit with speculation, partially due to it being the first cinematic crossover between Scarlet Witch and Dr. Strange, but also because of rumors that it might introduce several of Fox's X-Men.
Even though all of the speculation is interesting on its own, the trailer showcases that the Multiverse will open up very real, confirmed threats for the eventual Sorcerer Supreme. Although Baron Mordo is certain to be a primary antagonist in the film, the trailer also teases the presence of an even more powerful enemy: the all-knowing and immortal Shuma-Gorath.
Doctor Strange 2's Squid Explained: Who Is Shuma-Gorath?
In the comics, Shuma-Gorath belongs to a race of immortal, nigh-omnipotent beings that predate the universe known as the Many-Angled Ones (sometimes also the Great Old Ones, or the Elder Beings). A pastiche of Eldritch horrors from popular fiction, stories about the beings exist as written works published by the 616-Marvel Universe version of problematic author H.P. Lovecraft, consumed as fiction by the citizens who have no idea that they are real. The Many-Angled Ones have no hierarchy, but Shuma-Gorath is undoubtedly the most well-known, as well as being one of the most powerful. Shuma-Gorath is the ruler of countless dimensions in the Multiverse, and during pre-history, he was the ruler of Earth before being banished by a time-traveling sorcerer known as Sise-Neg.
In the countless millennia that Shuma-Gorath has constantly plagued Earth, he has faced off against many enemies who are not Dr. Strange, including the Vishanti (the trio of gods whom each Sorcerer Supreme draws their power from), Conan the Barbarian, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers. Even the Ancient One himself became a pawn to the horrific God, and Dr. Strange was forced to kill his mentor when Shuma-Gorath attempted to use his mind as an inter-dimensional portal to return to Earth. Since then, Dr. Strange and the Eldritch being have been bitter foes, with Strange pushed to his absolute limits every time in order to prevent Shuma-Gorath's goal of subjugating the Earth's population.
Shuma-Gorath's Comics Powers
While the comics have gone back and forth over whether or not Shuma-Gorath is truly "omnipotent" in the human understanding of the word, he's so powerful that it's hard to argue against it. Since the Elder God is trapped in an alternate dimension prison, many of the versions of him that have attempted to invade Earth over the years have been duplicates or astral projections, with the real version being virtually unstoppable in his own universe. However, even as a projection, the character still has abilities that rival even the Sorcerer Supreme's.
In his true form, though, the character is a thought-being, capable of manipulating the minds of beings across dimensions to attempt to free him or achieve goals on his behalf. He's also capable of destroying entire realities by using a hyper-concentrated beam of energy created by his tentacles. He can also change his size in relation to his power and is capable of opening up portals to other dimensions and times if he's not currently imprisoned.
Is Shuma-Gorath Doctor Strange 2's Main Villain?
Despite the trailer showing a brief glimpse of Strange locked in battle with the inter-dimensional deity, it's hard to say whether or not he'll serve as the primary antagonist in Multiverse of Madness. Based on the sheer scale of his power in the comics, it's a safe assumption; however, the movie is also juggling appearances from both Baron Mordo and What If's Evil Doctor Strange, two characters who have their own deep-seated grudges against Stephen Strange. On top of that, rumors have suggested that Scarlet Witch might be another villain in the film, using the mystical Darkhold as a blueprint by which to find her children, who were presumably erased from existence during the climax of WandaVision.
All of these different threats certainly spell trouble for Stephen Strange, but there's the possibility that Shuma-Gorath could be orchestrating them all from behind the scenes. Since the character is known for manipulating heroes' intentions to do his bidding, it's not at all a stretch to consider that he could be using other distractions as an attempt to slowly weaken Strange before launching his own invasion of Earth in the aftermath.
The MCU Already Used Doctor Strange 2's Villain
The Multiverse-hopping animated series What If? has discreetly introduced audiences to Shuma-Gorath in two separate appearances, albeit unnamed in each. The first one happens in the first episode, in which Peggy Carter receives the Super-Soldier serum and is turned into Captain Britain. The final act features an all-out siege on the HYDRA headquarters, where it's revealed this time that the Nazi-adjacent terrorists are attempting to summon an ancient evil into the world, one with tentacles that look intentionally similar to the Elder God. The threat is defeated when Peggy Carter sacrifices herself and jumps through a portal into Shuma-Gorath's dimension but is spit out over 70 years later into a S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, much like Steve Rogers in the main timeline.
The second time we see him is in episode 4, in an alternate universe in which Evil Doctor Strange from the Multiverse of Madness trailer.
Since the trailer only provides a glimpse of the ancient being, the creature in What If? might be a different entity entirely. However, considering that Shuma-Gorath exists outside of the Multiverse in the comics, it's easy to assume that both creatures we see in the series are multiversal projections of him and that the real one has set his sights on a full-scale invasion of Earth. When Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters next year, Stephen Strange will absolutely have his hands full, no doubt thanks to the machinations of a creature as old as time and beyond space itself.
