MCU: 10 Characters That Could Make Up The Illuminati

10. Professor X

This is now a given isn’t it? The trailer showed a glance at the back of Patrick Stewart’s shoulder while hearing his voice, confirming his role in the movie in the same way Hawkeye teased Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin several episodes before he actually appeared in full.

This has been heavily rumoured for a long time, with such theories only gaining more traction since Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home. We may have been faked out in WandaVision with Fietro, but finally the X-Men are coming to the MCU, starting with their leader.

Operating in the multiverse, this isn’t necessarily the exact version of Professor X we have seen in the X-Men universe previously. There were no hints to any involvement with the Illuminati previously, and the character did die at the hands of X-24 in Logan. However having said that, since when has a little thing like death stopped a character from being alive in the world of comic books?

There are still so many questions surrounding Charles Xavier’s appearance in the movie, but based on the trailer it seems certain that he is part of the Illuminati, and may even be at the head of the table. The way he spoke came across as authoritative, with the "we" strongly suggesting that he is talking to his own team.