Huge Star Teases New Role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The following post contains major SPOILERS for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. You will need the Book of Vishanti to erase this information from your mind after you read it. Proceed accordingly.

Marvel teased some surprise cameos in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, like Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier from the X-Men movies. But they saved the best for last — literally. In the movie’s post-credits scene, Doctor Strange is walking along a street in New York City when he encounters a sorceress dressed all in purple. She asks him to join her on an adventure in the Dark Dimension and he agrees.

Super Marvel nerds recognize the character as Clea, a longtime romantic partner of Dr. Strange’s from Marvel Comics. And everyone else recognized her as Charlize Theron, one of the biggest movie stars on the planet making a surprise debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a role that had never been announced, never been rumored, and never appeared in the rest of the movie.

(Someday we want to see a documentary on how Marvel keeps these huge surprise roles a secret. It feels like that might be a more interesting movie than some of the lesser MCU entries.)

Theron kept her role as Clea a secret for months (or years?), but now that the truth is out there, she finally confirmed it on her official Instagram account, sharing a photo of her impressive purple eyeliner and another one in full costume standing beside co-star Benedict Cumberbatch.

The caption: “Meet Clea.”

If it wasn’t obvious before, it’s pretty clear that Theron’s Clea cameo (say that five times fast) was not just a one-off gag. She’ll definitely return in the next Doctor Strange movie, and perhaps in other Marvel shows or movies as well. In other words, after the surprise of her debut comes the suspense of wondering where she’ll turn up next.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters.