MINOR SPOILER WARNING FOR DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
Marvel has had a chokehold on me ever since I saw Avengers: Infinity War and watched all the heroes team up and actually lose. From then, I decided to binge all the movies and have been an avid fan since. The culmination of all the movies ending the Infinity Saga with Avengers: Endgame had me both worried and excited for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So far, Phase 4 has given amazing works like WandaVision and Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a much anticipated film for this phase. With the rumors and news about reshoots and director/writer changes, I was worried about the quality of the well-awaited movie. However, the movie exceeded my expectations.
One of the aspects of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that shot the movie up to my Top 10 list was the directing. Sam Raimi, known for the Evil Dead and original Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies, was signed on as the director after Scott Derrickson left over creative differences. Raimi has a specific directing style that is just… Raimi. The directing strayed away from the usual MCU style and breathed new life into the movie. The tonal changes with including more horror elements served the story so well. One pitfall of Marvel movies are their boring expositional scenes, but Raimi decided to spruce up the usual info-dump with one character explaining the idea of dream walking while shots faded in of the character in question who was doing the dream walking.
Wanda’s character was a topic I was iffy about in the beginning. I avidly watched the series WandaVision (six times in fact) and fell in love with the character of Wanda. I admired how her character arc showed her grief in a true way, flaws and all. It felt like a big jump from Wanda releasing her grip on Westview and coming to terms with Vision’s death to her immediately using the Darkhold and killing people to find her children. However, after a rewatch of the movie and perspectives from some of my favorite Marvel creators (specifically @jstoobs on TikTok), Wanda was acting more in character than I had previously thought. The Darkhold was told to have negative effects on its reader, corrupting their mind. Wanda, just coming into her mantle as the Scarlet Witch, was likely corrupted by her grief from losing both her children and husband and empowered by the prophecy of the Scarlet Witch being a ruler. At the same time, Wanda showed much more autonomy as a character. @jstoobs talks about this more in depth in her TikTok video. In the comics, Wanda is seen as this out-of-control and crazy character, but this movie gives Wanda more autonomy in her decisions, even if those decisions have horrific consequences. Women can be portrayed as crazy and not in control of their powers, so although Wanda’s actions are morally wrong, she is at least shown making her own choices based in logic and motivations that she believes are worth the consequences. Elizabeth Olson gave an amazing performance and this movie showed that she really knows her character inside and out.
I also really enjoyed the introduction of America Chavez into the MCU. Xochitl Gomez was a great actress for this role and I anticipate her success in future projects in the MCU. Her origin with how she discovered her powers was heartbreaking and sets up a great arc that will likely be seen in the rumored Young Avengers movie or show.
The story was alright, but I found myself wanting more in terms of plot. The plot followed the main characters chasing after a book that could change their circumstances and save the multiverse. However, the book itself was a MacGuffin, which according to TV Tropes is “an object or element in a story that drives the plot, but serves no further purpose.” This movie was more of a character study on Dr. Stephen Strange and Wanda Maximoff that explored the ideas of morality and what it means to be a hero. The plot mostly served to present these themes and set up a new phase of Marvel movies that dives into the multiverse.
Flaws aside, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has become one of my favorite Marvel movies and favorite movies in general. I have watched it twice already and plan to see it a third time in theaters. From the reviews I’ve heard, people either love it or hate it. Give this movie a chance and see for yourself—who knows, it may become your favorite!