Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg

Director: Sam Raimi

After having what he believes is a dream where a variant of himself saves a young girl named America Chavez (Gomez) from being killed by a demon, Doctor Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) wakes up to attend Christine's (McAdams) wedding. Her wedding is interrupted by a creature attacking the same girl from his dream, so Strange and Wong (Wong) save her. It turns out what Strange thought was a dream was in fact real and the demon is chasing her so it can take her ability which allows her to travel across multiverses. Strange turns to the one person who has experiences with multiverses and visits Wanda (Olsen) for guidance. This turns out to be a mistake and soon Strange and America find themselves traveling across the multiverse to keep her safe.

Expectations are a tricky thing. Firstly, this is the first big Marvel film to follow Spider-Man: No Way Home (I don't count Morbius since it was delayed 2 years). After Peter disrupted the multiverse in that film, fans are looking for more answers. Secondly, this is Sam Raimi's return to the Marvel universe after helming the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films. This also promised to combine Raimi's comic book sensibilities with his horror roots.

It largely succeeds. Visually, the movie is impressive and is definitely Marvel's take on horror. Not only does it feature a decent amount of jump scares but features some unique takes on body horror that only Raimi could provide. Some of the visuals are a little hokey and not up to par with some of the other Marvel outings.

I hope you were keeping up with the Marvel TV shows, with Wandavision and What If? being required viewing to truly understand some of the events in the film. I didn't get a chance to watch What If? but I was able to follow what was happening without it. The What If? section especially provides some fun cameos and probably the best action scene in the movie.

What doesn't work for me is what the movie does with Wanda. Wandavision goes out of its way to dive into Wanda as a character and provided a solid understanding of her mental state after losing the love of her life, Vision. I feel like this film backtracks her growth in that series and instead turns her into a simple villain with an outdated motive. It's obviously fine to have a character whose motives you don't agree with but I feel like the script did her character a massive disservice.

Stephen Strange is an unlikeable character and this movie does a good job of giving his character some growth. While he isn't as unlikable as in the first film, he still isn't a captivating or sympathetic lead for a whole film. For me, he only works in smaller doses. Despite my concerns about her character trajectory, Elizabeth Olsen is incredible in the movie. Along with her, Benedict Wong and Xochitl Gomez are the MVPs. I really hope they bring America Chavez back in future films. Gomez gives her character more pathos in one movie than we have gotten from Strange in the handful he's been in.

While it didn't quite live up to expectations, Raimi does an admirable job bringing horror to the Marvel universe.

Grade: B