The first thing one notices about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is that this episode is as tonally different to standard Marvel fare as a nightmarish fever dream is from waking reality. Almost alone among the studio’s directors, Sam Raimi has been allowed to put his unique stamp on the saga – it feels at least as close to the film-maker’s earlier horror efforts Evil Dead II and Drag Me to Hell as it does to films such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Avengers movies. Why is Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch suddenly the villain? Who is America Chavez and why is Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange a zombie version of himself? Let’s do a deep dive into the new film to find out.
Wanda Maximoff is not who she once was
It has been quite the journey for Olsen’s character, from minor eastern European supervillain to fully paid-up member of the Avengers, to all-American housewife and now back to baddie in Multiverse of Madness. Despite having apparently found some kind of peace at the tail end of Disney+’s Wandavision, when she finally worked out it wasn’t cool to trap an entire town in her own heavily-stylised and rapidly shifting version of reality, Wanda now seems to have cracked again after coming into her full powers and chancing upon an evil book of dark magic known as the Darkhold. Her only mission is to reunite herself with the twin sons she discovered during Wandavision, Wiccan and Speed, having worked out that numerous alternative realities exist in which she and they live contented lives together. And yes, it’s a pity this ties into the sexist “mad mom” narrative that sees mothers as over-emotional creatures who make bad decisions because they love their children. Fortunately Olsen makes a wickedly evil protagonist, and one we know from the events of Wandavision is now powered-up to the extent that even Strange can’t take her down. How did you feel about her transition to supervillain?
America Chavez, the horror, the horror, and inter-dimensional antics
At the centre of Wanda’s focus is teenager America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who has the power to jump between universes but initially cannot control it. This soon brings her into contact with the Strange we know and love from the main Marvel timeline (now known as Earth-616), when he and Wong are called upon to battle a giant one-eyed, multi-tentacled demon that we eventually discover was sent by Wanda to trap Chavez. At this point, if you’re wondering why the Scarlet Witch sent such an enormous blunt instrument against someone who we assume needs to be alive to wield her powers – well, that’s just one of the many plotholes in Multiverse of Madness. We should also mention that Chavez is at least the third instrument we’ve now come across for the introduction of the Multiverse, after Strange’s spell gone wrong in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Wanda’s antics in Wandavision. Or maybe it was there all along?
Either way, Multiverse of Madness is not the most consistent of Marvel films (perhaps because Raimi found out halfway through writing it that he was expected to follow on from the events of Wandavision), and sometimes it feels as if it belongs in its very own universe. Those who were unaware of Raimi’s penchant for fast-cutting, unusual camera angles and regular reanimation of corpses might have found themselves a little confused by the action – let us know if you found yourself in this category. On the other hand, if you’re a fan of Evil Dead II, did you feel like all your Halloweens had come at once?
Earth-616, The Illuminati, Professor X and Reed Richards
In an attempt to flee as Maximoff launches an assault on the mystical retreat of Kamar-Taj, America accidentally transports herself and Strange to a new universe in which technology is to the fore and the United States government appears to be run by the Green party. Here, they are captured by a fresh version of the sorcerer’s old enemy Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and brought before the Illuminati (Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter, John Krasinski’s Reed Richards, Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Lashana Lynch’s Captain Marvel and Anson Mount’s Black Bolt.) None of them last very long here, as they are swiftly sliced and diced by an all-powerful Wanda, but the castings could have a lasting effect on the main Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-616).
This is the first major sign we’ve seen of mutants (from the X-Men movies) and the Fantastic Four appearing in the MCU, even though we already knew that Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox made it possible for Marvel to start incorporating characters it sold the big screen rights to back in the late 90s. Krasinski’s appearance could easily just be stunt-casting – there has been a high-profile fan campaign for the American actor and his real-life wife Emily Blunt to appear as Richards and Sue Storm in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. Of the others, Patrick Stewart will be 82 in July, but you wouldn’t put it past him turning up again now he’s due to retire from Star Trek, following the upcoming third season of Picard. The Illuminati? This is an organisation that’s featured regularly in the comics, but with Tony Stark’s Iron Man dead in the main Marvel universe, it seems unlikely it will be turning up anytime soon in Earth-616.
Perhaps the most long-lasting outcome of this encounter is that the Illuminati inform Strange that every version of himself in every universe ultimately becomes a force for evil. Turns out that episode of What If? was on the money after all. Can you see this revelation coming back to bite our hero in future?
Doctor Strange’s future and that freaky third eye
After being exiled to a ruined universe in which matter has turned upon itself, Earth-616 Strange meets a nefarious version of himself who has become corrupted by his own reality’s Darkhold, and sports a hideous third eye. He defeats his evil doppelganger, but in the movie’s final scene we see him bend over in agony as his own forehead pops out a horrifying extra peeper. This, presumably, is the result of having used the Darkhold to inhabit the dead version of himself we saw in the film’s opening scenes and rescue Chavez from Wanda, who had been casting a spell to finally steal those inter-dimensional powers.
Fortunately, a mid-credits scene shows that Strange has become swiftly accustomed to having triple sight – in the comics the Sorcerer Supreme is often able to use the extra eye without any creepy after-effects, even if it’s pretty grim to look at, and it seems to be the same Eye of Agamotto that our Strange wears around his neck (and once housed the Time Stone).
Where does Multiverse of Madness leave Strange? He’s certainly still the MCU’s central defender against the forces of evil in the absence of Stark, particularly now that alternate realities have become such a big part of the movie saga. That mid-credits scene, in which Charlize Theron’s Clea appears and opens a portal to another universe, suggests that we’re moving into a new era in which the latter could be his love interest, rather than Rachel McAdams’ Christine Palmer. In the comics, Clea eventually becomes Strange’s wife, so how do you think this will set up the events of Doctor Strange 3?
