Rumours have swirled for months that Sacha Baron Cohen has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the news has now been confirmed in a recent filing from Marvel Studios with the U.S. Copyright Office.
In that, Cohen is listed among the main cast members for Disney+'s upcoming Ironheart series and is credited simply as "Mystery Man." Needless to say, that doesn't give us much to go on but the Borat star's role in the show has been one of the MCU's worst-kept secrets for some time now.
With Riri Williams set to pit science against magic when she battles The Hood, we've been hearing that it's really the demonic Mephisto who is pulling the strings.
Marvel Studios is set to deliver a very different take on the Marvel Universe's devil. In fact, we've previously learned, "Mephisto's persona in the upcoming Ironheart show will be mainly a humanoid, business attire individual, with his cómic-accurate demonic form appearing only in certain parts of the show."
Oh, and he'll also be revealed as the new owner of the former Avengers Tower!
We've heard Mephisto's human counterpart purchased the building from Iron Man during the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming and is thought to have a fascination with technology. We don't know why, but how better to cause chaos and acquire souls than by striking deals with titans of industry willing to do anything to succeed and find riches?
With so much going on in the MCU right now between The Kingpin's street-level machinations, Val's attempt to create her own Avengers with the Thunderbolts, and the Multiversal madness still playing out, we're unsure where Mephisto fits into that. However, we're sure the stage is being set for him to be a major player, at least in this corner of this shared world.
Some leaked concept art previously showed us what Cohen's Mephisto could look like in the MCU, though we're still not 100% sure whether that was legit or the work of A.I. Either way, the villain we all expected to show up in WandaVision is finally on his way to this shared world (and it's about damn time).
Mephisto first appeared in 1968's Silver Surfer #3 and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema. Initially a foe to the Silver Surfer and Ghost Rider, Mephisto has since clashed with Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, and the Scarlet Witch.
Ironheart isn't expected to premiere on Disney+ until 2025.