The Illuminati of Earth 838 made their debut in the MCU, comprising heroes from multiple factions in the universe. It included Sorcerors, Mutants, and other assorted members like Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, and even Black Bolt of the Inhumans. Seeing that this group of individuals have important roles to play in upcoming storylines like Secret Wars, Doctor Strange from Earth 616 might be inspired to assemble a team of his own.
It has been rumoured that a World War Hulk project is in development, which also includes the Illuminati as a major part of the story. However, the team would need to be assembled before the Hulk-related event. There are several candidates that Strange could recruit for the Illuminati in the mainline MCU, each representing a different faction in the MCU.
The usual Candidates of the Illuminati might not be the way to go in the MCU
Among the usual members of the Illuminati, the MCU has introduced most of them, except for Professor X and Reed Richards. However, in this version of the MCU, Iron Man is already dead, dwindling the number of founding members. However, there are still powers in the MCU that could form the Illuminati. For starters, Doctor Strange, inspired by his detour on Earth 838, could be the driving force for the formation of the group.
Shuri as Black Panther could be a part of the team, in place of T’Challa. This could be a good way to introduce a mainline Black Panther, while Shuri works with the Illuminati as a secondary figure. The Inhumans TV series, although not well-received, did introduce Black Bolt, but it is unlikely that the character will ever make an appearance in the mainline MCU without some significant changes. Therefore, in his place, this version of the team could have Valkyrie, or whoever is the monarch of Asgard during the making of the team.
Namor has also been introduced in the MCU and could be a part of the team. However, there must be at least another heroic appearance made by the character before he can be inducted into the team. Before the X-Men and The Fantastic Four are inducted into the MCU, some other characters could be part of the show. Blade would be a great addition to the team, keeping an eye on the street-level side of things.
Other upcoming factions could be a part of the Illuminati
The Eternals could also join the Illuminati, at least the ones that were not taken away by Arishem to scan the memories of. With the Eternals 2 rumour gaining steam, one of the Eternal (probably Druig) could be part of the team, bringing in yet another perspective to the team. Now stands the question: what will this team assemble for? Secret Wars could be a good place to start, or perhaps it’s a team that comes together to stop Hulk from rampaging.
But then the question arises why does this team not call themselves the Avengers? Perhaps because most members of this tea, are not an official part of the Avengers. A lot of them hold government positions, which might not sit well with citizens.
So, to create sort of a UN for superheroes, the Illuminati could be formed, to anticipate and face bigger threats like Thanos and the Celestials, before they become apparent and catch the heroes off-guard. Of course, this team could grow to include Professor X and Reed Richards when they are introduced in the MCU.
