Marvel fans lost their minds when Agatha All Along episode 3 went and confirmed something we’ve been waiting for since the Multiverse Saga began — confirmation that none other than Mephisto exists in the MCU. The satanic supervillain has yet to appear in the red flesh just yet, but Jennifer Kale’s reference to an “agent of Mephisto” in the Disney Plus show’s third episode at last assures us he’s lurking around somewhere in the Sacred Timeline. 25b25

Mephisto fan theories have abounded throughout the MCU’s Phases Four and Five, and we can blame WandaVision for that, but the Hell-Lord never actually got a name-check in the franchise until now. Or did he? In the wake of Agatha‘s Mephisto mention, eagle-eyed fans have realized that Mephisto may have been hanging around the MCU… all along. Ever since 2012’s The Avengers, in fact!

Wait, when did Mephisto show up in The Avengers? 14323q

As pointed out on X by @NerdGamer91, Mephisto’s very first namedrop appeared in The Avengers a full 12 years ago, but this has hardly been noticed until now. When Nick Fury recruits Steve Rogers into his Avengers initiative, he hands Cap some files to bring him up to speed on the Tesseract. If you pause the scene as Steve is rifling through the pages, you can see that the write-up includes a reference to Mephisto. While this was no doubt intended as a subtle prop design joke, the fact that it means Mephisto’s name appears on screen for the first time in the MCU earns it an unexpectedly greater significance in the grand scheme of things.

The only hitch is that a closer inspection of the text in question reveals it’s dated rather badly and might not necessarily be considered canon anymore. “Mephisto has postulated that the Cubes are hosts to a semi-sentient will and that, even in Cube form, they can choose how they want to be used and to deny certain wishes,” it reads.” Mephisto also has proposed that a billion-sentient universally-linked wills could overcome this problem and that the Cubes could be as powerful as the Infinity Gems.

Apart from the curious fact that Mephisto is apparently a source of intel for S.H.I.E.L.D. — they have informants everywhere, I guess, even hell — this text indicates that the Tesseract is a separate construct from the Infinity “Gems.” It wasn’t until after The Avengers came out that Marvel not only decided to rename the Infinity Gems the Infinity Stones, but also confirmed that the Tesseract was one of the Infinity Stones itself.

We’re still not entirely sure if his Agatha mention will lead to an actual appearance from him or not, but thanks to both that name-drop in episode 3 and this rediscovered reference in The Avengers it’s becoming clearer that Mephisto has been stalking the MCU from the shadows for the longest time, perhaps even keeping an eye on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes — and its most powerful witches — as he waits for the right moment to make himself known.

Exactly when that right moment will be is somewhat unknown at present. Reports once indicated that Sacha Baron Cohen was secretly cast in the role for a surprise appearance in the Ironheart series. However, that show has been so thoroughly redeveloped since then that no one currently knows how much of the original plan survives. If he has been insinuating himself in the MCU since the Battle of New York, however, Mephisto finally entering the fray to fight the successor to Tony Stark’s legacy would actually make a fair amount of sense.

Marvel is making a habit of giving the fans what they’ve asked for, just not quite how they expected it. Bring back Fox’s X-Men characters in Deadpool & Wolverine! Ok, here’s Channing Tatum’s Gambit. Give us more Robert Downey Jr.! Fine, we’ll cast him as Doctor Doom. A lot of fan castings and theories have ultimately become canon, too like John Krasinski as Reed Richards and — at long last — the inclusion of Mephisto.

Agatha All Along just went and delivered what many fans thought WandaVision was going to do back in 2021 and introduced Marvel’s resident big red demon guy Mephisto into the MCU for the first time. All right, so he hasn’t actually appeared on screen yet, but the fact that he’s been name-dropped must surely mean he’s right around the corner, yes?

Well, maybe, but also maybe not. It’s just possible Marvel is actually resurrecting a trick it first attempted a full decade ago, in one of its most acclaimed projects.

Mephisto, Captain America, Doctor Strange, oh my! We need to talk about Marvel’s name drops 4m671v

In Agatha All Along episode 3, Jennifer Kale talks to Teen about the rumors of what happened to Agatha Harkness’ son. “They say he might be dead,” she teases. “Others say he might be a demon… Or an agent of Mephisto.” Cue the colossal sound of a thousand chronically online Marvel fans’ jaws hitting the floor.

Even so, while this namedrop may lead many to assume the Hell-Lord will be turning up later this season, Marvel history urges caution. It’s very possible that this reference is more along the lines of a memorable moment from 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier (see above). This sequence sees Captain America and Black Widow getting information on HYDRA’s surveillance algorithm, with turncoat S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell itting they’ve used it to target people who will become a threat to HYDRA. “Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange…” he babbles, thereby offering the MCU its first nod to the future Master of the Mystic Arts.

So did Doctor Strange show up in The Winter Soldier, or even any other Marvel movie that came out that year? No, no, he did not — in fact, it took until 2016 for his origins film to come out. What this namedrop did do is confirm that he existed out there on Earth-616 somewhere, which could be all this Mephisto moment is doing, too.

EP Jac Schaeffer’s comments about the reference suggest it could go either way. “With these shows, so often there is something that is at once a joke and a wink and a nod, and actually has something legitimate underneath it,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “As we all know, Mephisto is a character who’s very wrapped into Agatha’s storyline. I mean, people have to watch, but we’re always playing with the audience in that way.”

Maybe Mephisto will show up, but if he doesn’t — despite this tactic following a successful blueprint — Marvel should probably be prepared for fans to get hella mad.

Warning: Minor spoilers for Agatha All along within.

This is the Multiverse Saga, but at the same time as expanding into other realities, the MCU has also been further exploring the supernatural side of its lore more than ever before. Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight, the (we hope) Blade, and most obviously the Scarlet Witch corner of the franchise — WandaVision, Doctor Strange 2, and now, Agatha All Along. And it’s Agatha that’s going further than any prior project.

For starters, the Kathryn Hahn-fronted spin-off is defining the rules and culture of witchery in the MCU for the first time, like introducing the concept of the Witches Road, but it’s likewise teasing some bigger revelations to come. Episode 3, for example, goes somewhere that even the Avengers movies were too scared to go. Is this a secret setup for Deadpool 4 or am I just grasping at straws?

Forget the Mephisto namedrop, Death has come to the Marvel Cinematic Universe 36a2a

The big fan-pleasing talking point from Agatha episode 3 has to be the reference to none other than Mephisto, who viewers have been theorizing is lurking in the shadows of the MCU ever since 2021. That is a huge deal, and may well be a hint at his eventual emergence in Ironheart (of all places, according to reports). And yet the excitement surrounding the demon’s summoning is leading fans to miss the on-screen appearance of another all-powerful entity later in the same episode.

The coven’s first trial forces the witches to drink poisoned wine, which then leads them to see visions of their worst moments. For Lilia Calderu, this takes her back to her origins in medieval Sicily where she apparently witnessed the Grim Reaper itself going about its work. Due to the skeletal face and the form-shrouding cloak, it’s hard to apply a gender to this fatal figure, but there’s a good chance this is the first-ever MCU appearance of Lady Death.

Lady Death, as you can probably surmise, is the personification of death in the Marvel universe and so is an even more powerful presence than Mephisto, who is *merely* a lord of Hell. Lady Death is most famous for her links to two key characters. Namely, Thanos is besotted with her and unleashes untold death and destruction across the cosmos in a bid to impress her. Hilariously, though, Death instead has the hots for Deadpool — given that Wade Wilson, due to his immortality, is the one man she literally cannot have.

Death was long suspected to show up in Avengers: Infinity War, before we found out the Russos had chickened out of adapting Thanos’ gonzo comics backstory. She’s been due an MCU cameo to make it up to her for over half a decade, then, but it turns out the best place for her was Agatha All Along all along. Now the stage is set for Thanos and Deadpool to fight over her in Avengers: Secret Wars.

It’s been a long time coming. Marvel has officially made Mephisto a part of its live-action cinematic universe after years, nay, decades, of fans asking for the demon lord to make an appearance. We came close with WandaVision, but it was the spin-off to the 2021 show, Agatha All Along, that finally made it happen.

It came out of nowhere like a (hellish) bolt from the blue but Mephisto was, in effect, namedropped in the third episode of Agatha All Along. Sasheer Zamata’s Jennifer Kale thought it wise to warn Joe Locke’s Teen about the protagonist’s reputation, telling him Agatha may have sold her baby son, who we know to be named Nicholas Scratch from an Easter Egg-ery scene in the season’s first episode, in exchange for possession of the Darkhold. No one’s heard of him since, though some believe he became an agent of Mephisto.

There it was. A casual mention of one of Marvel Comics’ most feared characters, and one of the MCU’s most anticipated debuts. Will it go anywhere? Probably not. But it still means that Mephisto exists in the canon of Agatha‘s universe, and, therefore, Earth-616. And it was still enough to make viewers a little crazy.

Because of the character’s long history with the Scarlet Witch, many expected Mephisto to show up in WandaVision, but Agatha Harkness ultimately took his place as the show’s big bad. Now, she’s center stage, and the demon lord is back in the conversation. Speculation has tied Aubrey Plaza’s mysterious character Rio Vidal, who holds no ties to anyone in Marvel Comics, to both Mephisto and Agatha’s son. Some believe Nicholas is the two women’s child from a past relationship.

It’s also possible that Jen’s reference to the extra-dimensional demon is just a red herring, a way to throw eager fans off the scent of what really is expecting us at the end of the Witches’ Road. With WandaVision and Agatha All Along sharing a creator in Jac Schaeffer, it wouldn’t surprise us if this Mephisto mention turned out to be nothing more than a bit of fourth-wall breaking to mess with fans’ expectations and poke fun at their incessant speculation during the earlier Disney Plus series. And if that is the case then, well, it worked.

“I know the writers were tired of heating the Mephisto theories so they said ‘here you go, damn’,” one fan joked.

For the lesser versed in comics history, Mephisto is a powerful evil being who’s been around for over five decades, literally playing devil’s advocate in a lot of famous storylines. His end goal is always to corrupt and steal human souls, bringing them to a pocket dimension he calls “Hell” or “Hades,” though he uses the name loosely to trick people into thinking he’s Satan or the Olympian god of the dead. In truth, despite his demonic qualities and his supernatural and magical abilities to manipulate human life, his greatest power is being a master manipulator.

Mephisto is a feared figure in Marvel Comics and an ace Marvel has held out from playing all this time. He was rumored to feature in the Ironheart series after a cast listing tied Sacha Baron Cohen to the character. While we doubt he will show his face around Agatha All Along, the show could very well be setting up his eventual, and much-awaited, introduction to the MCU. If that’s not the case, then, I’m sorry Mrs. Schaeffer, but you’re quite literally playing with fire.

Best Deals On Amazon This Week 49203q

Photo	Title	Price	Buy
	Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights, Smart RGBIC Outdoor Decor with 75 Scene Modes, 100ft with 72 LED Lights, IP67 Waterproof for Outdoor Decorations, Work with Alexa, Google Assistant, White	$299.99 ($3.00 / Foot)
	JBL Vibe Beam - True Wireless JBL Deep Bass Sound Earbuds, Bluetooth 5.2, Water & Dust Resistant, Hands-free call with VoiceAware, Up to 32 hours of battery life (Black)	$39.95
	INSIGNIA 50" Class F30 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV, Voice Remote with Alexa, Stream Live TV Without Cable
	Keurig K-Express Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker, 3 Brew Sizes, Strong Button Feature, 42oz Removable Reservoir, Black	$79.99
	roborock Q5 DuoRoller+ Robot Vacuum with Self-Empty Dock, Upgraded from Q5+, 5500 Pa Suction, DuoRoller Brush for Dust & Pet Hair, 7 Weeks Hands-Free, PreciSense LiDAR Navigation, App & Voice Control

Warning: this article contains practically all the spoilers for Agatha All Along.

Three episodes in, Agatha All Along has proven to be one of the most fun, most entertaining Marvel Cinematic Universe offers in a hot minute, and a lot of it has been tied to the many mysteries the series holds. Now, Funko Pop ruined two of the sleekest tricks Agatha had up its sleeve.

The spoiler came via the British retailer Smyths Toys Superstores, who, according to those who were quick enough to catch it, shared details of the Agatha Harkness Funko Pop box on its Instagram page and website, containing major spoilers for the real identities of two of the show’s best characters.

Both publications have since been deleted, but just like in the MCU, things have a habit of coming back from the dead on the internet. The spoilery preview lives on thanks to those who managed to screen-record the store’s website while the listing that featured the cursed image was still up.

So what were the spoilers in the Agatha Harkness Funko Pop box? x2n3v

If you’re still reading, then you must really want to know. It’ll take some of the fun out of the show, sadly, but hopefully not all of it, otherwise Smyths Toys will be responsible for my villain origin story.

According to the Funko Pop box, Joe Locke’s Teen is indeed who we all thought he was — Wiccan, with a comic-accurate costume, except for his bandana which is altered to reference his mother’s iconic triangular-shaped headpiece. Wiccan, of course, is Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff’s son, Billy, who we met during WandaVision, played by Julian Hilliard. We’re especially curious to see how the MCU ties Teen to Billy, seeing as the young mage is meant to have been erased, alongside his brother Tommy and dad Vision, at the end of the 2021 show.

All we know so far is that Teen, who first approached Agatha about crossing the Witches’ Road so he could acquire magic power, was raised in Eastview by people he calls his parents. Fittingly, he’s been placed under a sigil that prevents any witchy person from learning his true identity. Every time he attempts to say his real name or talk about his past, his mouth is either sewn shut or he goes mute to the ears of the Agatha All Along coven. This spoiler, then, isn’t too devastating, seeing as this was one of Marvel’s worst-kept secrets. The second reveal, however, was a bit more unexpected.

A female figure named Death is also shown on the back of the box, and her green costume has led everyone to assume that it is, in fact, Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza). The earth witch’s identity as well as the contours of her past relationship with the show’s star have been shrouded in a thick cloud of mystery thus far, but all’s now beginning to take shape.

Death is a cosmic entity in the MCU, but in Marvel Comics she appears frequently personified in the figure of Mistress Death or Lady Death. As an integral part of the balance of the Universe, Death is neither good nor evil, though she is omnipotent and may take or give life if she wishes.

Fans have theorized the multiple references to Rio’s black heart could be an Easter Egg for another Marvel Comics character, literally called Blackheart. This creature was created by the demon lord Mephisto from accumulated evil and tasked with continuing his maker’s mission of corrupting human souls.

Fans were ecstatic to hear a Mephisto mention in episode 3 of Agatha All Along when Jen told Teen people speculate Agatha’s son, Nicholas Scratch, whom she is said to have exchanged for possession of the Darkhold, is an agent of the evil being. Other theories say Rio is Nicholas’ mom from a romantic relationship she once maintained with Agatha.

So, really, we might now know the endgame of Agatha All Along, thanks to this frustrating but altogether unsurprising blunder from the usual suspects (aka toy stores), but there are still so many details to iron out that we cannot wait to dig into. Just give me next Wednesday already!

WandaVision really started Marvel’s streaming era exactly as it would continue — by fueling wild fan theories that were destined not to pay off. Who could forget that MCU fans were once convinced — and I mean, convinced — that Mephisto was going to be outed as the show’s ultimate big bad, only for all nine episodes to go by without even a hint of hellfire?

But could spin-off Agatha All Along finally deliver on what the fans wanted all along? Yup, here we go again because a teasing comment from star Aubrey Plaza has got people once again thinking that Mephisto could be on his (or, perhaps, her) way to the MCU. On the purple carpet of the show’s world premiere, the actress hinted at a big surprise to come in the later episodes — one which may just blow the fandom’s collective mind.

“I’m just so happy they let me play this character,” Plaza gushed, before saying a little bit more than she probably should. “I can’t spoil it, but what happens, the reveal, is pretty amazing, and I think the fans especially, they’re gonna go crazy.”

So, what do we currently know about Plaza’s Agatha role? She’s Rio Vidal, a green-garbed sorceress who crawls up out of the ground to Agatha’s assembled coven when they embark upon a quest across the Witches Road. From glimpses in the trailer, it’s clear that Rio will end up betraying Agatha and company. What’s interesting about her, however, is that there is no one named Rio Vidal in the pages of Marvel Comics. Could her name hide a secret meaning?

Some are intrigued by her emerald wardrobe — what if Plaza is actually playing Polaris, Magneto’s daughter (and Wanda Maximoff’s sometime sister) in the comics?

There’s one big idea that’s catching fire among fans, however, and once again it looks like it’s going to be hard to stamp out. Who the devil could Rio Vidal really be? What about the devil himself?

As we’ve previously discussed, the trailers have offered a glimpse at what looks to be a feminine demonic figure engulfed in flames — was this our first look at Mephisto Mephista?

It has to be said that Plaza does have a precedent for playing an apparent ally to the main character in a weird, quirky Marvel show, only to be outed as a demonic, malevolent villain in disguise — anyone who watched the underrated gem that is Legion knows what I’m talking about. Plus, I think we can all agree that Plaza would absolutely eat up the screen if she got to unleash her inner Satan.

However, it’s important to note that Agatha was developed alongside Ironheart, which has previously been reported to star Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto. If this is accurate, the character would surely be off-limits to the makers of this show, even if he is a demon who can take different forms. Unless the Baron Cohen rumors were deliberately planted by the studio to obscure the truth of Plaza’s role. If so, we’d have to hand it to Marvel — that would be a hell of a move.

New Marvel characters are being introduced with each fresh entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and there are only so many larger-than-life villains left to bring into the fold. One of these villains has already been teased, or at least hinted at, and fans are convinced that he’ll be popping up in an MCU project any day now. That villain is the master demon of Hell, Mephisto.

In the comic books, Mephisto has encountered and exploited many a hero by making deals with them, like infamously getting Peter Parker to wish away his marriage with Mary Jane Watson to save the life of his Aunt May, or making the pact with Johnny Blaze that led to him becoming Ghost Rider. If Mephisto were to the MCU, there are plenty of choices for who could play him. Given the hype around the series Agatha All Along, many Marvel fans believe this could be where Mephisto makes his first official appearance. If that does indeed happen, here are our top 12 choices for who should play the fiery foe.

12. George Clooney 406m6g

Look, Mephisto is someone who can get people to sign on the dotted line, right? Then he’ll need to be played by someone with charisma, and who’s more charismatic than George Clooney? Clooney has not touched a superhero role since Batman and Robin (or The Flash, if that counts), wherein he infamously played the Dark Knight before fleeing the hero scene entirely. If you can’t recall where else you’ve seen Clooney before, I have questions, as he’s the star of major titles like The Ides of March, Up in the Air, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and ER. Now in his silver fox era, Clooney could easily switch sides and play a villainous role more akin to the morally gray characters he usually plays, like Danny in the Ocean’s 11 franchise.

11. Sean Penn 6u4171

Even though Sean Penn is not necessarily known for playing bad guys, he has an aura that would make him perfect for Mephisto. The Milk actor is one of a few actors on this list who is quite selective of the roles he picks, and like many other Hollywood stars, there’s a chance he might not want to go down the Marvel path. The one thing that might work in his favor is that he recently starred in a miniseries called Gaslit. If Penn is willing to act on a TV series (something many actors avoided like the plague in a pre-streaming world), perhaps he’s willing to play in the Marvel sandbox under the right circumstances ⏤ Mephisto circumstances. (Insert devilish grin here.)

10. Daniel Day-Lewis 2d402c

Regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, Daniel Day-Lewis would be a perfect Mephisto, although in all fairness, there aren’t many characters he wouldn’t be suited for. You know him from Gangs of New York, Lincoln, and There Will Be Blood, but the legendary actor retired after starring in Phantom Thread, making the chances of him coming out of retirement for a Marvel role quite low (unless he needs a new house or something). Day-Lewis is also perhaps the most famous method actor alive, so we’d hate to see him go to hell and back just to play Mephisto, but hey! It would be worth it, at least on our end.

9. Wes Bentley 64291k

Wes Bentley might be one of the more intriguing choices on this list, as he’s perhaps the least well-known. You most likely recognize him from Yellowstone, but he’s also made notable appearances in American Beauty, The Hunger Games, and Interstellar. Like a couple of the other actors on this list, he would nail the devilish look of Mephisto’s character, as evidenced by his Hunger Games character Seneca Crane. Curiously, Bentley has already appeared in the Marvel Universe, just not in the MCU. He played Blackheart in 2007’s Ghost Rider, the main villain in the movie and the son of Mephisto (as played by Peter Fonda). Thus, a contemporary Mephisto casting would be the perfect throwback, even if just for the satisfyingly full-circle multiversal cameo moment it would create.

8. Sacha Baron Cohen 6r2a4e

Sacha Baron Cohen might be the most interesting choice for Mephisto on this list, because there’s a chance he’s already been cast. You likely know the actor from the zany characters he’s played in the past ⏤ Borat, Ali G, Bruno ⏤ and while he’s mostly known for his comedic roles, it takes serious acting chops to expertly execute comedy. Cohen has also proven himself in more serious projects, including Sweeney Todd and his Oscar-nominated turn in The Trial of the Chicago 7, and his ability to juggle the two genres makes him perfect for a Marvel villain. It was previously rumored that Cohen might be playing a role in the Ironheart series, so whether he appears in Agatha or Ironheart, you won’t hear us objecting ⏤ especially if the role he ultimately plays comes complete with a lot of red and spiky black hair.

7. Al Pacino 4q272y

This choice might be a tad older than what Marvel Studios is looking for, but you can’t deny that Al Pacino would be an excellent Mephisto. You likely know the Oscar-winning actor from his roles in The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, and Scent of a Woman, and we already know he can pull off a devilish character following his turn in The Devil’s Advocate to see that. Again, Marvel is probably looking for somebody a bit younger to play the role in more than one project, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have the demon change his appearance (you know, like Marvel could have done with Kang) and get at least one Pacino version of the character. Just like being killed by your cat, it’s unlikely, but not impossible.

6. Bryan Cranston 6a51s

You know who would make a terrific Mephisto? Walter White himself, Bryan Cranston. If you don’t know him from Breaking Bad, you might recognize him from Malcolm in the Middle, Argo, or his newest series, Your Honor. If we’ve learned anything from Cranston’s performance as White, it’s that he has range ⏤ range enough to go from playing a relatively normal person to a villain at the drop of a hat. It does seem weird that neither Marvel nor DC has tapped the actor for a role in either superhero franchise, at least that we know about, but if Marvel gets to him first, we’ve got our money on him playing a meanie. Cranston would bring customary depth to Mephisto, which is why we wouldn’t be mad if he stuck around for several MCU appearances.

5. Denzel Washington 185se

Known for his roles in Fences, The Equalizer, Glory, American Gangster, and Malcolm X, Denzel Washington would make an unprecedented Mephisto. He might not be the most conventional choice for the role, as he doesn’t resemble the comic book version of the character, but if you simplify Mephisto down to his actions and nature, Washington would be more than able to execute. Like Penn, however, he’s an actor whose prestige might stop him from snagging a role in a superhero film, or he might not have been offered the right opportunity. Either way, Mephisto would be the perfect character for Washington to portray, as it would allow him to chew on some scenery and inhabit one of the best villains the MCU has to offer.

4. Tom Hardy w333j

Tom Hardy is best known for his roles in The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Venom. He’s proven himself to be a versatile actor with performances that often sizzle with a raw, visceral energy. Given how iconic his version of Bane became (who can forget that voice?), his portrayal of Mephisto would inevitably be as charismatic as it would be terrifying. Hardy’s chameleonic ability as an actor (how charming was he in Inception?) would allow him to explore the many layers of Mephisto’s character, from his cunning manipulations to his underlying malevolence. Whether he’s delivering sly, devilish quips or unleashing his full wrath, Hardy could easily become one of the most memorable faces to battle the Avengers, especially after playing the lovable Eddie Brock for six years.

3. Joaquin Phoenix 671n31

The people’s Joker is about to make an epic on-screen return in the form of Joker: Folie à Deux, but that doesn’t mean Joaquin Phoenix is limited only to DC villainy. He did such a captivating job bringing Arthur Fleck to life that he won a freaking Oscar for his performance, and that kind of gravitas should not be confined to only one superheroic universe. Sure, it would likely cost Marvel a pretty penny, but Phoenix would be a natural fit for the MCU’s Mephisto. You already know he’d bring a unique take to the table ⏤ so unique, in fact, that it has the potential to blow previous villainous appearances like Josh Brolin’s Thanos and Cate Blanchett’s Hela out of the water. Whether or not Phoenix would be willing to step into another big bad’s shoes is another story, but if he did decide to embrace Mephisto, it would truly be our gain.

2. Javier Bardem 6r3h5u

Oh, Javier. That trident-wielding, eat-pray-loving, No Country For Old Men James Bond baddie. The guy can do it all, and has. He’s an Oscar-winning phenomenon who gives every fiber of his being to every role he plays. Javier Bardem as Mephisto? Sweetie. You know that would be next-level. Bardem is no stranger to villainy, and at this point in his career, it would be refreshing for him to find the deliciously devilish notes in Mephisto as opposed to going directly for the jugular like he tends to with his bad guys. Bardem would be adept at balancing the darkness with the wicked glee, both of which are crucial for embodying this character. He’s already got that sinister gleam in his eye; now he just needs the chance to unleash the devil within.

1. Keanu Reeves 3311m

Ladies and gentlemen, our #1 choice for Mephisto: the one and only Keanu Reeves. He’s no stranger to brooding rabble-ros, but as time has shown us, we tend to see playing the hero. How refreshing would it be to see him swoop in and wreak utter havoc in the MCU? In this character’s shoes, he would have the opportunity to throw the Neo and John Wick rulebooks out the window and start a fresh era as the last guy you’d want to meet in a dark alley. Now that Jonathan Majors is officially done as Kang, it’s time for someone else to step up as the multi-project big bad before Robert Downey Jr. makes his grand reappearance and dominates the MCU all over again. Reeves is that person, and he has the star (and staying) power to dominate at least a few series and films before Downey’s Doom takes the mantle (or partners up with him so they can take over the universe together ⏤ could you imagine?). Whoever becomes Mephisto, any one of these 12 actors would make excellent choices. Now we just need Marvel to knock it off with the breadcrumbs and commit to bringing this demon to the screen already.

Up next on the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s sparse 2024 calendar is Agatha All Along, the Kathryn Hahn-led dark fantasy miniseries that boasts the distinction of having the most annoyingly gimmicky marketing backbone yet. Yes, Feige, we get it, it was never Coven of Chaos, it was never House of Harkness, but it was Agatha All Along, just like the song from WandaVision that the internet fell in love with. I bet you’re pleased as punch with that one.

Speaking of WandaVision, Agatha All Along marks the return of Jac Schaeffer to the showrunner’s chair (Schaeffer spearheaded WandaVision, which is still quite easily one of the franchise’s most incredible shows), and the idiosyncratic nature of Agatha All Along‘s trailers suggest that we could be in for quite a victory here.

Of course, as we saw with Deadpool & Wolverine, it’s no victory in Marvel’s eyes unless you satisfy the cameo/setup quotient in the eyes of fans, and considering so many were convinced that Mephisto would appear in WandaVision, could the very suitable setting of Agatha All Along finally be his MCU debut?

Will Mephisto appear in Agatha All Along? 5s473k

There’s been no official confirmation of Mephisto for Agatha All Along, even if that’s hardly proof of his absence. And for those of you wondering if that hellish demon at the end of the trailer is Mephisto, that entrance is entirely unbecoming of a villain of Mephisto’s pedigree, and there’s no way we’d be able to take him seriously with those hand-wings.

Moreover, Mephisto is reportedly due to appear in Ironheart, with the character strongly alleged to be the true identity of Sacha Baron Cohen’s character. Cohen’s involvement itself is something Marvel has been playing coy on, but it appears we can count on his appearance at this point.

While that doesn’t necessarily mean we can count on him being Mephisto, it does seem more likely that Ironheart will be his entry point into the franchise. And while Agatha All Along would make more sense for him as a debut, the tonal differences between Ironheart and Agatha All Along would make that transition to Ironheart a bit jarring. But then, that’s assuming that he’s even in Ironheart.

The final answer, then, is that no one well and truly knows if Mephisto will be in Agatha All Along, Ironheart, or even anything before Avengers: Secret Wars, and frankly, we shouldn’t be worrying ourselves about that. Kicking back and hoping that Agatha All Along turns out to be as good a show as it seems is a much better use of one’s time.

Agatha All Along premieres its first two episodes on Disney Plus on Sept. 18. The series will run for nine episodes.

It’s never a good look when one of the most iconic villains at the disposal of history’s biggest-ever franchise has been turned into a running joke, but that’s what happens when imaginary dots are connected so often that legendary Marvel antagonist Mephisto effectively becomes a meme.

At various points throughout the Multiverse Saga, scuttlebutt has swept the internet and convinced no shortage of the franchise’s most dedicated fanatics that the devil himself was poised to show up in WandaVision, Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but what do we have to show for it? Absolutely nothing, at least for now.

In a turn of events so ironic we’d say you couldn’t make it up if it wasn’t so predictable, though, filings with the Copyright Office have listed Sacha Baron Cohen as “Mystery Man” in Disney Plus series Ironheart, and we all know who the Borat star has been heavily touted as playing. The downside is that not only has the show been slapped with a substantial delay to push “Mephisto” further away, but some folks have now decided they don’t want him anymore.