Doctor Strange 2: That Pizza Guy Could Be the MCU's Next BIG Bad!
Doctor Strange 2's Pizza Poppa: A Seemingly Minor Cameo With Major Implications?
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a wild ride, packed with crazy cameos and mind-bending multiverse shenanigans. And now, it seems that an almost throwaway character may actually be super-important in the future! This is totally nuts, people!
Following the events of WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and newcomer America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) find themselves on a multiverse adventure; becoming hunted by that crazy Scarlet Witch. During that crazy journey; we encounter that very cool team known as the Illuminati; in a relatively cool variation of New York in another reality. Yet before encountering them; there’s Bruce Campbell playing Pizza Poppa a seemingly small role–a totally unassuming cameo! But a new theory makes things far crazier.
Bruce Campbell’s Teasing Hints: The Same Guy Across Multiple Realities?
Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi are famous for their long collaboration, having worked across many films including that hugely famous Evil Dead franchise. Campbell’s been popping up across Raimi's movies, even the Spider-Man trilogy (Tobey Maguire version!). He always played slightly different characters! But get this: Campbell now suggests it is all one character, hinting that these things had a larger meaning; that a hidden identity and connection across those multiverse settings remained until it is finally explained, something that would bring massive value and would shock and surprise audiences who totally missed these easter eggs from this talented and well-known actor.
Campbell confirmed this on Variety (via YouTube); confirming that his Marvel roles were indeed one and the same, showing surprising multiversal abilities. This cryptic statement along with those various hints implies something huge for Campbell’s future role in the MCU. That really top secret contract is super interesting and he confirmed the mystery even more when stating “My character interfered with Spider-Man and Doctor Strange and maybe I’ll get a much bigger chance and an expanded role much later, because my role has saved some heroes before!"
Think about that. We now see those various instances of easter eggs: That ring announcer giving Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) his identity; that snooty usher blocking him in Spider-Man 2; the maître d’ helping Spider-Man propose in Spider-Man 3. It is amazing. That role in Doctor Strange 2? Pizza Poppa delays Doctor Strange. Maybe saving him from death? That alone sounds like this seemingly tiny role has incredible amounts of plot significance, waiting to be revealed. There’s also that contract which this character had - a detail that cannot be underestimated in this instance.
Is Pizza Poppa Secretly… The Beyonder?!
So who could Campbell’s character actually be? One insanely cool theory suggests this amazing being: The Beyonder from Marvel Comics. His origin involves being an almost omnipotent being from outside the multiverse itself, obsessed with Earth's heroes and villains. This makes Campbell's multiversal appearances make a lot more sense.
The comic Secret Wars #1 (1984) featured this immensely powerful figure’s emergence; He once took heroes and villains to a new universe and had them fight. This character’s role went far, far beyond. A truly compelling character. He later appeared in Secret Wars II (1985); posing as a human while secretly investigating aspects related to humanity, such as greed, ambition and desire! Then, his total fury threatened to wipe out the entire multiverse until defeated. There are tons of details surrounding this villainous character! Even the idea of being a child of that other highly dangerous group – known only as the Beyonders—adds an entirely new perspective which only appears at the beginning of 2015’s Secret Wars.
The Beyonder being behind all this explains that mysterious interferences! Campbell’s known for being fun, intense, curious— all elements aligning with this crazy-powerful entity.
The Beyonder and Avengers: Secret Wars: An Epic Confrontation
This isn’t over. This totally involves those insane events related to the Time Runs Out event in Marvel Comics, that massive crossover leading up to Secret Wars (2015). It showed how immensely powerful the Beyonders were; their power is essentially insurmountable. It’s hinted the Beyonders (also known as the Ivory Kings) could be important. These immensely dangerous individuals could destroy entire universes without resistance. This alone emphasizes why the connection created by this cameo remains utterly shocking, providing many people that extremely satisfying connection to those classic comic storylines. That also sets up this important storyline event: Avengers: Secret Wars and Bruce Campbell!
Conclusion: Pizza Poppa Could Become the MCU's Most Formidable Foe!
That totally insignificant role might become hugely important. That’s classic Sam Raimi—and an insane amount of buildup towards what might possibly happen! If that whole Beyonder theory proves right; it totally changes Doctor Strange 2—making those supposedly unimportant elements even greater; this creates incredibly long and interesting consequences across that timeline in MCU lore. Get ready!
