The MCU Reveals Why Doctor Strange 2’s Alternate Avengers Had To Die Over A Year After Its Release

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Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Marvels.
Summary

Monica Rambeau's ability to absorb energy and her journey to the Fox X-Men Universe in The Marvels reveals the potential involvement of characters from previous franchises in the MCU's Multiverse Saga.
The quick dispatch of Earth-838's Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may be due to the need to portray the main heroes of the MCU as the most powerful iterations in the battle against Kang the Conqueror.
The constant power issue in the MCU's Multiverse Saga requires other realities' heroes to be made weaker, increasing the significance of the MCU's main heroes in the fight against Kang the Conqueror.

Over a year after they debuted in the MCU, the ending of The Marvels proved exactly why Earth-838's Illuminati had to be killed off in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As the sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel, The Marvels expanded on Brie Larson's Carol Danvers, giving some insight into what she had been up to between Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, while also building her relationships with other MCU heroes. Namely, Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, and Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau joined Danvers for her fight against Zawe Ashton's Dar-Benn, with Rambeau having a pivotal role in setting up the future of the MCU's Multiverse Saga.
Throughout The Marvels, Monica Rambeau gets several opportunities to show off her new superpowers - which she gained after being exposed to the energy of the Scarlet Witch's Westview Hex in WandaVision. When Dar-Benn rips a hole in the fabric of the universe, Rambeau's ability to absorb energy makes her crucial in mending the tear. However, fixing this potentially-catastrophic issue culminates in Rambeau becoming trapped on the other side, seemingly lost in another universe. However, The Marvels' post-credits scene reveals that she has traveled to Fox's X-Men Universe, so hints at some highly-anticipated Marvel characters getting involved in the MCU's future, but also makes sense of some previous hero deaths.
The Marvels' Alternate Universe Reveal Makes Doctor Strange 2's Illuminati Death More Logical Close Monica Rambeau getting trapped in Fox's X-Men Universe in The Marvels led to the MCU debuts of Lashana Lynch's Maria Rambeau as Binary and Kelsey Grammer's Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast. This scene proved that Fox's previous franchise will be revisited in the MCU's future, with 2024's Deadpool 3 expected to spend some time there before moving to the MCU proper. However, the fact that the MCU's Monica Rambeau is now trapped in another reality suggests that heroes from Fox's X-Men Universe, and perhaps the other realities viewers have seen in previous MCU projects, will be involved in the larger storyline of the Multiverse Saga, as Rambeau needs to return somehow.
Kelsey Grammer portrayed Beast in X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past, while the mutant was also played by Nicholas Hoult in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix.
This could explain why Earth-838's Illuminati were killed off quickly during 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The multiversal superhero team were shown to be incredibly powerful in the MCU's Phase 4, and despite being no match for Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch, the Illuminati could have been integral in bringing down Kang the Conqueror and his villainous variants in the MCU's future. If characters from Fox's X-Men Universe, Earth-838, and any other reality that has already been seen in the MCU, have a part to play in the battle against Kang, there's one clear reason why some of these heroes will need to be killed off beforehand.
MCU's Multiverse Saga Creates A Constant Universe Power Issue

In the battle against Kang the Conqueror throughout the MCU's Multiverse Saga, the franchise's main heroes need to be seen to be the most powerful iteration. This means that heroes from other realities need to be made to seem weaker, which explains why the members of the Illuminati were dispatched so quickly, and could spell bad news for several characters in the universe at the end of The Marvels. If this wasn't the case, viewers may wonder why the MCU's main heroes are being focused on, as different versions of these characters may be more integral in bringing down Kang the Conqueror.
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