The Avengers' apparent new leader will stun you beyond belief

The Avengers are getting back together in the near future but the line-up is about to look very different. The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Mightiest Heroes last teamed together in Avengers: Endgame when they formed their largest line-up ever to take on Thanos and his army, saving half of the universe from complete annihilation. But as triumphant a victory as it was, it came at a cost as there were a number of losses that the MCU team experienced during the movie.

Among them was Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, who had become one of the two faces of the franchise. The other, Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, also departed the team after their victory, finally choosing a life of happiness with longtime love Peggy Carter in the '40s. Both were considered leaders on the team, which makes the eventual reunion of the Avengers rather interesting, because who will be their new leader?

Well, a number of reports and rumors have emerged, suggesting an unlikely candidate will take over the role in upcoming sequel Avengers: Doomsday.

Doctor Strange rumored to become the main Avenger in the next MCU movie

According to multiple new reports, Doctor Strange is expected to be the "main Avenger" in the MCU's next Avengers movie. It all stems from scooper account Main Middle Man, which claims that Strange will get the focus of the movie due to its own focus on magic users. Fellow scooper account Marvel News backed this report up, adding that they also heard that the former Sorcerer Supreme will be the main Avenger in the movie.

The initial report claims that the film's reliance on magic users will be the reason that Strange is at the center of it, with Clea (played by Charlize Theron) also playing a main role in it. And that wouldn't be entirely unfeasible given that the sorcerers are among the most powerful heroes in the MCU, and the Avengers will need that kind of power when going up against either Doctor Doom or Kang The Conqueror (if the latter does indeed return for a brief farewell before Doom takes over).

We already know that Benedict Cumberbatch is set to return in the movie. Speaking in a social media video for Netflix's Still Watching YouTube Channel while promoting his new show Eric, the actor confirmed he would be in Avengers 5, telling viewers that he was excited to return to the role in the movie (which is set to begin filming next year):

"I'm very much looking forward to Avengers next year, which is cooking up a storm."

Strange has played more of a supporting role in the Avengers movies, largely due to the fact that he has never considered himself one of them; instead, he simply aligned himself with them as their shared goal was indeed saving the universe from Thanos. However, these new rumors, and Cumberbatch's comments do suggest that the character could feature more heavily in the upcoming fifth (and sixth) movies in the film series.

When we last saw Stephen Strange in the MCU, he was recruited by a sorceress (Clea, played by Theron) in the post-credits scene of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to fix an incursion that he supposedly caused. After that, fans were ready to see Doctor Strange 3 - one of the multiple expected MCU sequels that has yet to be officially confirmed by Marvel Studios. So, to hear that he will make his return to the silver screen in an Avengers movie before that one is quite surprising.

And yet, if he is expected to play the main role, that would explain why the story with Clea didn't need to be immediately continued in Doctor Strange 3 as it could play a major role in the Avengers: Doomsday storyline instead.

With all of that in mind, it's going to be interesting to see how Doctor Strange factors into the MCU's Multiverse Saga going forward, and if primary Avenger could be on the list of roles that he will play. It would certainly be unexpected, as previous reports suggested that Sam Wilson's Captain America and Tom Holland's Spider-Man could be among the new leaders of the team, but as this is now rumored to be a magic-focused film, it wouldn't be too surprising if Stephen Strange took the lead. That could then set the stage for a new main Avenger / leader to rise in sequel Avengers: Secret Wars.