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In the final trailer for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" released a few days ago, a scene seemingly featuring Professor X immediately led many comic fans to recall the famous secret organization "The Illuminati" from the original comics. So, who formed this so-called Illuminati, and why?
The "Illuminati" is an organization conceived by Iron Man. After the conclusion of the early Marvel Comics major event, the "Kree-Skrull War," he believed that if Earth's major superhero groups could cooperate more effectively and become a unified entity representing Earth, they could prevent similar catastrophic events from happening again.
Thus, he met with six prominent leaders in Wakanda: Black Panther, Mr. Fantastic, Doctor Strange, Professor X, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Black Bolt, proposing the establishment of such an organization. However, his idea was met with opposition, as they deemed it impractical and prone to getting out of control.
Nevertheless, the six attendees, excluding Black Panther, agreed to secretly share information afterward. Thus, the original "Illuminati," comprised of these six powerhouses, was born, inadvertently triggering several of the most severe events that followed...
A Warning to the Skrull Empire
The Illuminati's first mission after its formation was to travel to the Skrull homeworld, which was still recovering from the war, to warn them against further aggression towards Earth. Black Bolt then destroyed a Skrull vessel. However, during their departure, they were inadvertently captured, and all six were thoroughly studied. Ultimately, they managed to escape because the Skrulls underestimated Iron Man's hand-to-hand combat abilities.
During this process, however, Skrull scientists successfully acquired technology from Mr. Fantastic that allowed them to replace others undetected, subsequently leading to the major event known as "Secret Invasion"!
Reassembling the Infinity Gauntlet
After the major event "Infinity Gauntlet," where Thanos wiped out half the universe's population, Mr. Fantastic realized they needed to disrupt the movement of the Infinity Stones throughout the cosmos by secretly collecting them. After acquiring three stones himself, he sought the assistance of the Illuminati members to obtain the remaining half, and despite everyone's dissuasion and threats, he donned the complete gauntlet.
The Watcher, who only appears during major events, also emerged at this time, expressing his disappointment in Mr. Fantastic. However, Mr. Fantastic had only put on the gauntlet hoping to wish the six stones out of existence, but he failed. He then decided to distribute the stones among the Illuminati members, with each safeguarding one, to ensure that no one could ever collect them all again.
Exiling the Hulk
After the Hulk's rampage caused widespread destruction in Las Vegas, then-S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill demanded that Iron Man and the other heroes take responsibility for the Hulk's actions, as they possessed the ability to stop him but allowed him to rampage and harm people due to their friendship with Banner. Iron Man then proposed a plan to the Illuminati: to trick the Hulk onto a spaceship and send him to an uninhabited planet to live out his days, ensuring he could no longer harm anyone.
Excluding the missing Professor X, all five remaining members supported this plan except for Namor, whose friendship with Banner was deeper, as they had both been teammates in the "Defenders." He couldn't stop Iron Man from proceeding, but this incident severely fractured the Illuminati. This action further led to the major event where the Hulk returned to Earth seeking revenge on the Illuminati, nearly destroying the entire Marvel Universe - "World War Hulk."
Prelude to Secret Invasion
After the superhero Civil War concluded, the New Avengers, while battling The Hand in Japan, unexpectedly discovered that Daredevil's lover, Elektra, was actually a Skrull imposter, and it was unknown how long she had been replaced. Iron Man convened the Illuminati, who were already disillusioned with him, one last time and brought the body for them to examine. They then discovered that, unbeknownst to them, the silent Black Bolt had also been a Skrull imposter, and he now intended to kill everyone present to conceal the truth!
The five present members fought fiercely against the fake Black