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While WandaVision and Loki seemed like perfect places for Mephisto to join the MCU, he’s been busy causing trouble for Spider-Man in comics.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #74, now available from Marvel.
Throughout the runs of MCU shows WandaVision and Loki, the Mephisto rumor mill was turned up to full gear, as theories about the demonic Marvel villain inundated the Internet. Fans scoured those shows and their supporting materials for potential clues about the villain’s supposed presence in the MCU, since Mephisto is one of the few Marvel villains menacing enough to convincingly step into Thanos’ role as a legitimate threat to the entire universe. While none of these theories panned out, the Mephisto hysteria was palpable, but it may have been pointed in the wrong direction.
While Mephisto has been a no-show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s returned with a vengeance in several ongoing Marvel Comics storylines, most notably in Amazing Spider-Man #74, by Nick Spencer, Christos Gage, and a collection of artists including Marcelo Ferreira, Mark Bagley, Zé Carlos, Dio Neves, Carlos Gómez, Ivan Fiorelli and Humberto Ramos.
The recent spate of Mephisto rumors centered around WandaVision. Before Agatha Harkess was revealed to be manipulating Wanda, Mephisto seemed like a likely candidate to be manipulating Wanda’s magic to hex the small New Jersey town. However, it was ultimately revealed that Wanda’s grief overwhelmed her and Harness merely took advantage of Wanda’s frenzied mental state, Showrunner Jac Schaeffer stated that the show never needed a villain pulling the strings from the shadows and that Wanda dealing with her grief and misery spawning from Vision’s death was more than enough of an antagonist.
Similarly, Loki inspired rumors about Mephisto from its very first episode. When Owen Wilson’s Mobius was introduced, he was standing beneath a stained glass window that clearly shows a devilish figure with red skin and horns. Despite the theory’s prominence, the showrunners shot down rumors of Mephisto and clarified that the stained glass image was just a reference to Loki himself according to director Kate Heron. “It’s honestly just a super weird coincidence,” Herron said. “Like, it’s genuinely a reference to Loki — the horns, he was cast out of heaven, that’s what it’s a reference to.”
Over the past year, Mephisto has made several noteworthy appearances throughout the Marvel Universe alongside characters like the Avengers, Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider. However, the culmination of Spencer’s Amazing Spider-Man has revealed that Norman Osborn made a deal with Mephisto decades ago that changed the course of Norman, Harry, and Peter Parker’s lives forever. Taken with the revelation that Mephisto had a vision of Spider-Man and Mary Jane’s daughter ultimately stopping him, Mephisto has been repositioned as is the most important antagonist in Spider-Man’s illustrious rogues’ gallery, in no small part because his deal with Norman had a domino effect that caused some of Spider-Man’s greatest tragedies. Everything from Gwen Stacy’s death to Harry Osborn’s monstrous transformation into Green Goblin can retroactively be attributed to Mephisto.
While Mephisto’s presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still a matter of speculation and rumor, there’s substantial evidence that he’s set to be a main antagonist for the comic book Marvel Universe in the coming months. While several major events already coming into focus for 2022, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Mephisto unite many of Marvel’s heroes against him sooner than later.
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