Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness merch gives us a better look at Gargantos.
2022 is shaping up to be an incredible year for Marvel fans! We’ve got at least 5 Disney+ shows and 3 films coming in the next twelve months, and after the recent teaser trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, fans are more excited than ever to see how this movie will expand the multiverse in crazy new directions. Releasing on May 6th, the sequel is set to expand on the ideas presented in Loki, What If…?, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Multiverse of Madness will also be diving headfirst into some horror and Lovecraftian elements. It also just so happens Director, Sam Raimi, is a master of these elements. We also know that the film is set to heavily feature the squid-creature known as Gargantos, and thanks to @BrMovieNews and @DoctorStrangeUpdate on Twitter, we now have a new look at the tentacled beast.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Merch
In addition, @DoctorStrangeUpdate shared a look at a movie-inspired comic cover showing Strange, Wong, and America Chavez battling the creature in New York City.
Who is Garagantos and How Do They Fit in Multiverse of Madness
Okay, so there are a couple of different things that we can take from this promotional art. The first of which is that Marvel Studios seems to be merging the characters of Gargantos and Shuma-Gorath into one entity for Multiverse of Madness. In the comics, Gargantos was an extremely obscure sea monster best known for battling Namor the Submariner. As far as we can tell in our research, it never ever even had any interactions with Dr. Strange, nor was it involved with any multiversal or transdimensional shenanigans. It was simply a large sea monster.
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Shuma-Gorath, on the other hand, is a much better-known character that’s directly dealt with Dr. Strange on many occasions and whose entire identity is based around the idea of ruling over alternate dimensions. Often referred to as one of the “Great Old Ones” or “Many-Angled Ones”, this squiddy fella has multiverse and Lovecraft written all over it. A quick look at the two character’s designs from the comics (see below) makes it clear that the creature we’re seeing in the Multiverse of Madness trailer and concept art looks more like Shuma-Gorath than it does Gargantos. So why the name change?
There are a couple of reasons why Marvel Studios may have decided to rename the character for this movie, but the primary reason is more than likely a legal one. Marvel first used Shuma-Gorath in a 1973 issue of Marvel Premiere #10, but the first appearance of the name was actually in a 1967 short story by Robert E. Howard called “The Curse of the Golden Skull.”
It is entirely possible that Marvel Studios doesn’t actually own the rights to the name, and to avoid a potential lawsuit, they’ve simply merged the character with Gargantos for Multiverse of Madness and the MCU. This avoids any legal issues while also giving the mainstream audience a catchier and more mainstream name that might be easier to market. Though some fans will likely still be upset.
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Either way, fans shouldn’t worry. This villainous creature is obviously heavily influenced by the Shuma-Gorath, and will clearly be a transdimensional and multiversal threat to our main cast of characters. It’s also entirely possible that Gargantos will not be one single beast in this film, but a collective hive mind of identical squid-beasts bent on spreading itself across realities.
We saw a similar beast go up against Captain Carter in What If…?, and I’d say it’s a good bet that these two squids are part of the same entity. It’s easy to see how all the time and reality tampering that the Avengers have done in the MCU has weakened the multiverse enough for this creature to emerge. Like Mordo said in the trailer, “the bill always comes due.”
Connection to the Eye of Agamotto
One final note about this concept art is that it really seems to invoke the imagery of the Eye of Agamotto. While it may just be a coincidence, the MCU has always done a fantastic job of interconnecting their films in new and interesting ways, and we believe there’s a good chance that they will be altering the origin of this magical talisman to be connected to Gargantos in some way.
After all, the only thing we’ve been told about the necklace in the films thus far is that it was created by the first Sorcerer Supreme and was built to house the Time Stone, so there’s a lot of backstory they could add to draw this connection if they desired. What makes this theory even more relevant is the sheer fact that the MCU has continued to feature the necklace at all! After all, Thanos seemingly crushed the necklace in Avengers: Infinity War when he retrieved the Time Stone, and yet Dr. Strange still wears it during the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home and it’s also around his neck in the trailer for Multiverse of Madness.
So how did he get it back? What value does it have without the Time Stone? Nothing seems to happen by accident in the MCU, and we expect that these lingering questions will be addressed when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters on May 6, 2022.
What are your theories? Let us know in the comments and follow The Illuminerdi’s social media page for more exciting content.
