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.
Longtime MCU fans shifting opinion on a dime has been a recurring trait for as long as Kevin Feige’s sandbox has existed, so nobody should be too surprised that when Mephisto may have actually been confirmed for real at long last, it’s decided that he’s either being wasted on Ironheart or isn’t even needed at all.
Don’t get us wrong, some folks are beyond thrilled, but there’s always going to be dissenting minority.