The Marvel Cinematic Universe finally introduced one of the most nefarious villains from Marvel Comics lore: Mephisto. As one of the lords of Hell, Mephisto (played by Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen) is a devilish cosmic entity that possesses nigh omnipotent powers. As such, like with most characters that get introduced to the MCU at this late stage, Mephisto’s introduction raises as many questions (and possible plot holes) as it does provide answers.
In fact, a lot of MCU fans now have the same big question after seeing Mephisto’s powers and personality at work during the finale of Ironheart. And that question is: what in the hell was Mephisto doing (or at least how did he feel) when Thanos snapped half the universe out of existence?
Thanos Severly Reduced Mephisto’s Clientle
The finale episode of Ironheart, “The Past Is the Past” made it clear (even without spelling it out) what Mephisto trade is: harvesting souls through temptation and deal-making. The silver-tongued devil talked both Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) and Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) into trading their very souls in exchange for impossible powers. The cost of those deals was quickly made apparent, as whatever lifeforce or energy Mephisto drains from his targets manifests as demonic branch-like scarring on their bodies. No one knows what Mephisto’s ultimate goal is, but he clearly seems to need the bodies to get there.
So how did Mephisto feel when Thanos suddenly took away half the souls in the entire universe via The Snap in Avengers: Inifnity War?
The MCU Needs to Address Mephisto’s Reaction to The Snap (And More)
If Doctor Strange villain Dormammu can get a shout-out within one of the first scenes Mephisto appears in, then Thanos probably deserves to get some reference, at some point. After all, we still have little idea about how various entities and factions of the cosmic MCU are connected – if they are at all. But even if Thanos was never aware that an entity like Mephisto exists, it’s nearly impossible to believe that Mephisto wouldn’t be aware of Thanos, and all of his machinations to obtain the Infinity Gauntlet. Mephisto would’ve definitely noticed it the moment half of the souls on Earth (and beyond) vanished in an instant. And it seems like he wouldn’t be happy about having his ranks of potential harvested souls cut in half.
Wherever Mephisto pops up next in the MCU, there needs to be some kind of scene or moment of dialogue where he addresses the Snap, the Blip, and all those souls being snatched and then in an instant. It must’ve caused a massive migrane for Mephisto, and he doesn’t seem like the type who would just hold those feelings inside. So let’s address it.
The Cosmic MCU Needs Much More Organization
The Loki TV series established that Thanos was just a minor player on the cosmic scale, and the Infinity Stones (from any reality) are mere trinkets compared to the multiversal power that the Time Variance Authority or Kang weild. In comics lore, Mephisto’s power allows him to rewrite entire realities (like erasing all memory of Spider-Man and Mary Jane’s marriage), or forge alliance across realities, like tempting the Howard Stark of Earth-4111 to kill his son Tony in exchange for eternal life.
Most importantly, it’s been established that Mephishto has the power to look across different realities of the multiverse and be aware of what transpires there. The comics have also seen the Mephisto of the main reality (616) team up with his own variants to form the “Council of Red,” a demonic counterpoint to Kang’s “Council of Kangs” cabal.
The MCU has now put all of the above powers (Inifnity Stones, Multiversal conquerors, demonic entities) on the playing field, alongside other cosmic powers like Eternity (from Thor: Love and Thunder), Dark Dimension lord Dormammu (from Doctor Strange), the Celestials (from Eternals), and Galactus (from Fantastic Four: First Steps). Fans are starting to get restless about getting clarification about how all powers stack in terms of hierarchy, and what their relationships are with one another (if any). If Mephisto is to be the MCU devil, keeping an edge on all the other players and schemes at work in the universe seems only fitting for his character.
Ironheart is streaming on Disney+.
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