Brave New World’s Illuminati Tease Is A Disappointing Reveal

The controversy surrounding Captain America: Brave New World continues, and as the Marvel Cinematic Universe heads toward the end of its divisive Phase 5, many have claimed that Julius Onah’s maligned movie is hardly the essential viewing it should be. There’s no typical Avengers movie to round off Phase 5, with viewers instead looking ahead to the multiversal clash of Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. Although it goes some way to setting that up, most think Captain America: Brave New World isn’t exactly an MCU must-watch.

There hasn’t been a full-blown Avengers movie since the devastating events of Avengers: Endgame, but as Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross reminds fans in Brave New World, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are currently out of action. It’s thought that this is why Thunderbolts* has the caveat that the Avengers are MIA, although the fourth Captain America movie doesn’t seem to directly cue Jake Schreier’s upcoming Phase 5 swansong. Instead, its post-credit scene teases the return of an unexpected team that hasn’t yet had its time to shine.

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Captain America: Brave New World Hints at the Illuminati

Although the MCU didn’t invent the post-credit scene, it’s become synonymous with the idea since Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury hinted at forming the Avengers during 2008’s Iron Man. Brave New World was not only criticized for its post-credit scene mirroring the final conversation between Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson/Captain America and Ford’s Ross, but because it wasn’t very clear. Brave New World’s post-credit scene had Wilson visiting an incarcerated Samuel Sterns/the Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) on the Raft, with the latter making a vague mention of the mysterious ‘others’ on the way.

Many had assumed that Sterns’ look at the ‘probabilities’ had somehow led to him uncovering Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom out there in the Multiverse, while others thought it could be a hint at the Fantastic Four coming into conflict with the heroes of the mainline Earth-616 if their reality is consumed during the events of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Speaking to The Wrap, Onah confirmed that the Illuminati was featured in early drafts of Brave New World, but he stopped short on confirming who was on his roster:

“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.”

Instead of teasing the potential power of Doctor Doom ahead of his rumored debut in First Steps, Onah suggests that Brave New World’s post-credit scene is giving fans a bizarre throwback to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Sam Raimi’s 2022 movie delivered an Illuminati lineup of Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter, John Krasinski’s Mister Fantastic, Lashana Lynch’s Captain Marvel, Anson Mount’s Black Bolt, and Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier. It’s true that Chiwetel Ejiofor’s version of Baron Mordo survived, but with Benedict Cumberbatch confirming he won’t be in Doomsday, there isn’t much connective tissue to bring back the Illuminati in the next Avengers movie. Added to this, mainstays of the comic book Illuminati like Stewart’s Professor X and Mount’s Black Bolt were killed off. Even though it’s true that Earth-838 having its own Illuminati means other realities likely do, it feels like a clumsy way to bring back the team of brilliant minds.

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The Illuminati’s Role in Marvel Comics

First appearing in 2005’s New Avengers #7, the comic book version of the Illuminati was a superpowered think tank that came together in the aftermath of the Kree-Skrull War. Each of its members refused to join a worldwide group of superheroes due to the dangers of various outsiders, so instead, formed the Illuminati as a covert group that regularly meets to exchange information as some of Marvel’s brightest minds. Importantly, the Illuminati has had a part to play in the likes of World War Hulk and Secret Wars, as well as a run-in with the Sentry. The MCU has cued all of these, and with Lewis Pullman playing Sentry/the Void in Thunderbolts*, a more obvious tease of the Illuminati could take a revamped roster through to the events of Doomsday and beyond.

Multiverse of Madness implied that Stewart’s Professor X was the one from the same reality as X-Men: The Animated Series, while another version of Lynch’s Maria Rambeau took on the role of Binary in The Marvels. Krasinski has downplayed the idea of returning to play Reed Richards, and with Pedro Pascal’s Mister Fantastic expected to be a major part of Doomsday, a very different Illuminati is presumably on the way. In terms of who else could make the cut, Namor and Black Panther have both appeared on the team in the comics, meaning Tenoch Huerta and Letitia Wright or the rumored recast of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa could appear this time around.

Elsewhere, everyone from Beast to Captain Britain, Hulk to Captain America have been recruited along the way. With increasing speculation that Chris Evans could reprise his role as Steve Rogers in the next Avengers movies, the return of the Illuminati as a much bigger presence starts to make sense. Also, if the Illuminati returns from the shadows in the next two Avengers movies, it could explain how Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom looks like a Tony Stark variant. With everyone from Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man speculated to return to the MCU, a ‘new’ Illuminati could easily be made up of Multiverse variants who’ve banded together for villainous reasons. Despite Sterns suggesting the mysterious ‘others’ are the bad guys, it’s also possible the Illuminati are a misunderstood group trying to save the Multiverse.

The problem is that the Illuminati don’t actually appear in Brave New World and Onah isn’t some franchise overseer like Kevin Feige. Some assumed the post-credit scene was referring to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s Council of Kang post-credit scene following Jonathan Majors’ firing, while the mention of ‘others’ is vague enough to point to anyone. The MCU has been making the most of its multiverse variants in everything from Loki to Deadpool & Wolverine without the need for the Illuminati. The MCU is notorious for abandoning its post-credit scenes, and like fans are still waiting for a payoff from Doctor Strange’s Baron Mordo tease, it’s possible that Captain America: Brave New World’s Illuminati setup is left to gather dust from the sidelines as the franchise heads into the much bigger arc of Doomsday and Secret Wars.

Captain America: Brave New World

Release Date

February 14, 2025

Director

Julius Onah

Writers

Dalan Musson, Malcolm Spellman

Prequel(s)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War

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  Anthony Mackie

  Sam Wilson / Captain America

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  Harrison Ford

  Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross / Red Hulk