Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Xochitl Gomez, Patrick Stewart, John Krasinski, Hayley Atwell, Lashana Lynch, Anson Mount, Bruce Campbell, and Charlize Theron
Grade: B-

Even if this movie wasn’t what I wanted it to be, it’s nice to see Doctor Strange back again. I’m still excited about the overarching story of the MCU because of the focus on Strange, it’s just that the Multiverse of Madness wasn’t the chaotic extravaganza I was expecting.

Summary

In some strange universe elsewhere, we see a different version of Doctor Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) and a new character in America Chavez (Gomez), a young woman with powers that let her travel the multiverse. Currently, they are being chased by some gigantic demon monster as they search for the magical Book of Vishanti, a book that gives anyone the answer on how to vanquish their enemy. Strange fights the demon but is badly wounded. Quickly realizing that the only way for this mission to succeed is for him to take Chavez’s powers from her before the monster does, he attempts to do just that. In the midst of this, he’s stabbed directly in the chest by the monster. Chavez runs for the book but is stopped by the demon. As the demon traps Chavez and it looks like she’s about to die, she opens a portal, with the dying Strange using the last bit of his power to cut off the arms of the monster to release her. This sends America and the dying Strange into the portal to escape.

Just then, the real Doctor Strange wakes up in his bed, thinking it was all a dream.

He gets dressed and heads over to the wedding of former colleague and lover Christine Palmer (McAdams). After being reminded of his failure to “get the girl” by dickhole former colleague Nicodemus West (Michael Stuhlbarg), we see him being greeted by Christine at the reception. They talk and reminisce, with Strange telling her he loved her, but he had to make sacrifices.

You know, saving the world can really fill your schedule.

She tells him it would’ve never worked between them but asks him if he’s happy. He says he is, but you can tell he’s lying through his teeth. Shortly after, he hears commotion outside and sees a giant, one-eyed, tentacled, octopus monster attacking New York. So, Strange leaves the reception to fight it, with most of the wedding party watching as he springs into action. Early into the fight, he notices that the monster is after America Chavez, the girl from his “dream”. Perplexed, he continues his fight, with the current Sorcerer Supreme in Wong (Wong) showing up to help. The two defeat the monster, save Chavez, and question her. However, she tries to run away after stealing Strange’s sling ring. Strange and Wong catch her but explain they mean her no harm. After Chavez tells Strange his “dream” actually happened in a different universe, the three go to a restaurant to talk things out. This is where she explains several things that will set us up for the rest of the movie. The key notes are that there are numerous versions of Doctor Strange in different universes, the monster that was chasing her was a henchman of a demon, someone wants to take her power of traveling the multiverse from her, and she can’t travel the multiverse on command. It only happens when she is frightened.

Then, she mentions that the other Stephen Strange was trying to find the Book of Vishanti, as it was the only way to win. Chavez and the other Strange almost got to it, but he kind of turned on her. Strange still passes it off as a dream he had, so Chavez takes him and Wong to the dead body of the other Strange from the opening sequence of the film. This means that dreams are “windows into the lives of our Multiversal selves”. Following the burial of the dead Strange under a stone coffin of sorts, Wong wonders if the creature that killed the other Strange had the same markings as the one-eyed octopus thing. Strange said it had runes, so they both come to the inclusion that this isn’t sorcery. It’s witchcraft. Realizing the seriousness of the matter and the implications of what’s at stake, Strange visits Wanda Maximoff (Olsen) for help at the same time Wong takes Chavez back to Kamar-Taj, the sorcerer’s compound. Strange talks with a visibly down Wanda, still feeling the effects and aftermath of what happened on WandaVision.

Once he explains the situation, Wanda tells Strange to bring America to her so she can protect her. Since Strange never revealed America’s name to her, he realizes Wanda is the one who sent for all the attacks and is behind everything. Wanda, now fully the Scarlet Witch after studying the Darkhold (the evil counterpart to the Book of Vishanti, AKA The Book of the Damned), admits she’s after Chavez’s power because if she’s able to travel the multiverse, she can go to a universe where her kids are alive. She can live with them and live happily ever after like she did for that short time in WandaVision. She promises to hunt down Chavez and take down anyone trying to stop her, giving Strange until sundown to give the girl up. With all-powerful Scarlet Witch’s intentions being known, Strange goes back to Kamar-Taj and helps Wong set up a fortress with all of the students and teachers in preparation for her arrival. At the same time, they will be protecting Chavez to the best of their ability. Wanda shows up some time after and Strange flies up to speak to her as a last-ditch effort before they commence battling. Unfortunately, nothing changes, even with Wanda offering to send Strange to a universe where he’s with Christine. Once the fight begins, they are able to hold off Wanda’s attack momentarily However, we start to get a glimpse of her power when she is able to get into the mind of a weaker student helping prop up the force field around Kamar-Taj.

The dude runs away because of her mind tricks once she appears next to him, telling him to “Run”. On the way out, the guy bumps into a few people, effectively cutting holes in the force field and allowing Wanda to bust through. She ends up destroying the compound and almost everyone in it in pursuit of Chavez. Just when it looks like Wanda is about to corner our heroes and drain Chavez’s powers, Chavez opens a portal instinctively. Strange jumps over to save her, and they both go directly into the portal to escape. After traveling through several different universes, the two land on Earth-838, a different version of the current Earth. As Strange tries to come up with a plan, Chavez adds mentions how there are no other versions of her, and they are stuck in this universe because she can’t control her powers to send them back. She suggests Strange look for the Book of Vishanti because his other self thought it was the only way to beat Wanda. The only problem is that he doesn’t know where to look for it. However, Strange realizes they can potentially ask the Doctor Strange of this universe where to find it.

On the way there, we see Strange and Chavez explore Earth-838 and how different things are there. As they try and gameplan, they walk by a machine showing them their live memories when they stand on a platform. This is where Chavez sees how shaken up Strange gets seeing him receive the watch he still wears today. Christine got it for him. Next, Chavez stands on the platform, and they both watch Chavez’s memory of the first time her powers introduced themselves to her. A bee scared her, and she accidentally opened a portal, sending her parents flying to a different universe completely on accident, never to be seen again. Eventually, the two find a statue of Doctor Strange acknowledging his help in defeating Thanos in this universe and giving his life to do it. Right after, Karl Mordo (Ejiofor) greets Strange. As you remember, in the post-credits scene during the first Doctor Strange, Mordo turned into a villain. However, in this universe, he is the Sorcerer Supreme! He greets Strange, who is confused but goes with it. The two are brought in to have tea with Mordo, and they discuss Wanda having the Darkhold. Mordo says this universe also has the Darkhold and one specific spell from it is pretty insane.

It’s called dreamwalking. A dreamwalking sorcerer projects their own consciousness from their universe into another, possessing the body of an alternate self. It’s not a permanent link but in the small amount of time they dreamwalk, they can do irreparable damage to the universe they invade. This is essentially what Wanda plans on doing.

Once Strange reveals his plan to go after the mystical Book of Vishanti, Mordo reveals his true self. He deems Strange and Chavez more dangerous than the Scarlet Witch, so he drugged the tea. This results in Strange and Chavez passing out and being stuck in captivity. At the same time, Wanda imprisons Wong and uses the Darkhold to dreamwalk in Earth-838’s version of Wanda to be with her kids. As Wanda dreamwalks and is in a trance-like state as she does, a still-alive sorcerer sacrifices herself to destroy the Darkhold, royally pissing off Wanda. She threatens to kill the last remaining survivors of Kamar-Taj unless Wong tells her another way in reaching the Darkhold and its power. He reveals that the one they were dealing with is a copy. There’s one location on Mount Wundagore containing all the spells carved into its walls. She spares the survivors’ lives and takes Wong with her to start the trek to Mount Wundagore. Soon after, Strange and Chavez wake up in two impenetrable glass structures in a lab while being observed by another version of Christine, who’s a scientist. They are now sitting ducks for Wanda.

On top of all of this, they now have to deal with a secret supergroup of superheroes known as “The Illuminati”. Unfortunately, they’ve dealt with their universe’s version of Doctor Strange, and they do NOT trust this Strange either, no matter how much he pleads with them.

My Thoughts:

Phase Four has not been Marvel’s strongest phase, despite the overabundance of content.

With that being said, I was still very excited for a sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange. Benedict Cumberbatch has been killing it as the character in every film he’s appeared in, so finally getting to see him in a solo sequel had me excited for the possibilities. This was especially true once it was established that this movie was going to explore the multiverse and the dark side of the MCU. I haven’t necessarily been craving a horror-themed MCU project (that has never been the case), but I liked the thought of an MCU project going into a completely different direction in search of innovation and creativity. Personally, I don’t have any problems with how the MCU has been thus far, but I can’t help but see what fans have been talking about online regarding how recent productions for Marvel have been a bit formulaic. Superhero/comic book films have to follow a certain structure unfortunately, especially if a new hero is being established, and people are starting to take notice. With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness being announced, with rumors flying around about where the film will go and who will be involved, my expectations were at an all-time high.

How could they not be?

With a sorcerer like Stephen Strange leading up the film and the idea of traveling different universes being a foregone conclusion, my mind went in so many different directions on where this movie could go. With all of the surprises coming out of the fantastic Spider-Man: No Way Home, only giving us a taste of what was possible, I figured (naturally) this was going to be off-the-charts insane. Now, I don’t know if disappointment is the right word, but I was expecting something much more based off of the hype. Not only was Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness nowhere near Spider-Man: No Way Home, but it didn’t even surpass the first Doctor Strange.

When horror director Scott Derrickson left the production over disagreements with where he was taking the film, more than likely going too far into the horror side of things, I was skeptical. Kevin Feige said this wasn’t the case, but Derrickson himself said they didn’t want to make the movie he wanted to make. Considering his track record, it had to have been something crazy and avant-garde. This is why I almost guarantee Feige’s comments were bullshit. They more than likely got rid of Derrickson because they were worried about his scary ideas not being as commercially viable as the original. I can understand this from a marketing standpoint, but it’s disappointing to think about for someone who applauds differences in creative direction. Regardless, bringing in the established Sam Raimi to take over should’ve been the ultimate replacement. He is a very good director and has showcased his talents in both the superhero and horror film genres. So even though the talented Derrickson left, Raimi replacing him felt like a match made in heaven. Answer me this, why do I still feel empty inside?

Well, it starts with the fact that this didn’t even feel like Doctor Strange’s movie. He didn’t feel like a background character per say, but he definitely did not feel like the most important person in the room. Wanda Maximoff and America Chavez took up way more screen time than they needed to and weren’t nearly as entertaining as they should be to make up for this amount of screentime. This is a Doctor Strange movie after all. After so many ensemble movies where he had to wait his turn, I was hoping for him to take over completely in a Tony Stark-type of way. Sadly, I didn’t feel that at all. He took a MAJOR backseat this time around. A lot of it was due to there being so much world-building and expositional dialogue they had to get through, but since we’ve seen them do the same thing with someone like Tony Stark and it was still entertaining, they should’ve had no problem pulling it off in the same manner with Strange. Unfortunately, they didn’t care to go that far with it. They were too busy making this film the introduction into “The Multiverse Saga” that will encompass the next few phases. As a result, the star of the fucking movie took a step backwards.

This leads to my next major gripe in America Chavez. I wasn’t buying what she was selling at all. Her little jokes never hit, her characterization was boring, Xochitl Gomez’s performance was flat, and it felt like the only reason the character existed was because her powers drove the plot. I didn’t feel any sort of connection with the character and was not even remotely invested in her plight. The entire time, I just wanted to get back to Doctor Strange, but she just kept crawling back into the story in the corniest ways possible. Was it because she’s a bit younger and kids in these types of movies tend to have similar characterizations? It’s possible. Even so, I just know for sure that I would’ve been more inclined to buy-in if she was an adult. There wasn’t a single instance where I thought it was the right decision for her to be a teen in this film because the same themes could’ve been addressed if she was a young adult dealing with the same traumatic events from her childhood. Having a kid superhero in the movie made the ending annoyingly predictable too. I rolled my eyes in the big climax when Strange gives her the whole, “You had the power within you all along. Believe in yourself” speech to inspire her against the Scarlet Witch.

Really? We’re still doing that in the 2020s?

Xochitl Gomez’s acting was supremely cheesy as well. She wasn’t ready for this big of a role. At the very least, I was hoping for fun chemistry between the two leads like how Tony Stark had with Harley Keener in Iron Man 3, but it never got there. Cumberbatch did his best, but Gomez left a lot to be desired in terms of charisma. If we have to endure a show or a movie based off of her character in the future as Marvel tries to explain how important she is to the MCU, I’m going to complain the entire time. Elizabeth Olsen impressed me once again, carrying her momentum from WandaVision directly into this sequel to show us why she’s just as important as everyone else. As I explained earlier however, it did come at Strange’s expense because at times he felt like an afterthought, especially because they kept reminding the audience how he has zero shot against her.

At times, they deviated so much from our hero that the title of the film could’ve honestly been “The Multiverse of Madness starring the Scarlet Witch and newcomer America Chavez (also featuring Doctor Strange)“.

Now, I understand comic book fans might agree in saying the Scarlet Witch is more powerful than Doctor Strange but to casual fans, it devalues the hero immensely in the eyes of the audience when he admits defeat so easily. Strange has faced insurmountable odds before, numerous times in fact. He might not be able to realistically beat her, but he should never continuously say they have no shot as he continues to run in the face of danger. He’s still a superhero willing to take sacrifices and willing to go one-on-one if need be. This is what makes him a hero. Some of my favorite moments in this sequel were when Strange does face off with Wanda and gives us a glimpse of Strange in his prime, like when she enters the compound and Strange puts her in that glass room spell. There, we see the cocky Strange smirk and challenge Wanda, and it does works for a bit. This type of attitude is what endeared the character to me in the franchise’s predecessor, but it’s something that has been noticeably lost ever since.

I understand that the events in Infinity War and Endgame would mature Strange, but we know who he is at heart. The attitude and cocky demeanor will always be a part of him. Plus, it’s what makes him entertaining. He’s arrogant in a very likable, “cool guy” way. I want to see more of that while he’s in the face of danger. We only see glimpses of it here, but it works every time because Cumberbatch is such a natural at it. Why are they forgetting what works for the character and the actor? It’s so simple! Yes, he can still get serious when the time calls for it, but he shouldn’t have to lose what makes him fun in the first place! Tony Stark and Peter Quill have proven this! Moments that show Strange’s personality in a battle of wits and sorcery with Wanda is the kind of stuff needed to make this a Doctor Strange film worthy of our time. Be that as it may, there was so much thrown into the story that we lost who these characters are and why we wanted to see them in this adventure in the first place.

As cool as it was to see the Illuminati, and the tension and exciting danger revolving around their inclusion and dealings with Strange and Wanda, the sequence involving them did feel a bit forced. Marvel fans have been very accustomed to seeing cameos and surprises, so their inclusion felt like it was shoehorned in to satisfy the super fandom at a detriment to the pacing. I would argue the story became a bit too bloated at this point, especially because the screenplay already couldn’t handle the three main characters. Throwing in another team of heroes felt like overkill, especially once we see the aftermath of it all. The good that came out of it was that we got to see John Krasinski as Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, a role he has wanted, and the fans have clamored for with online campaigns. I give Marvel and Disney points for this because it shows how well they listen to their fanbase. With that being said, as much as I like Krasinski, I wasn’t really convinced of his portrayal of “the smartest person in all of Marvel”. He nailed down the emotional re-telling of what happened to their universe’s version of Doctor Strange, but I didn’t think he understand the essence of the character. Also, this isn’t his fault because he didn’t write it, but if Reed is so damn smart, why the hell did he tell Wanda what Black Bolt’s powers were beforehand, hoping she would change her mind on a fight? He’s smart enough to be able to read the room! First of all, if you walk into the room after already destroying half of the building and an Ultron army WHILE wearing blood-soaked clothes, you should assume she didn’t come here to compromise.

Second of all, once she hit him with that line about Reed’s wife still being able to raise their kids following his inevitable death, he should’ve assumed it was on and punched her right there! I just don’t know why he’s so slow to react when he’s supposed to be a fucking genius!

The Illuminati are supposed to be able to make all the decisions no one else will. It would make sense for them to have no qualms about trying to kill her right off the bat. If they are so quick to judge another version of Doctor Strange, I’m not sure why they are hesitant to attack Wanda once she walked into the room with blood-soaked clothes after mowing down an army. Lastly, you know what would’ve been smart? What if Reed was like, “Wanda before you do anything, Black Bolt wants to talk to you”. She didn’t know who Black Bolt was! She wasn’t made aware of his powers until Reed told them directly to her. She would’ve had no plan of attack had Reed said what I said, and Black Bolt would’ve taken her out right then and there. Now, I’m not a genius, but for Reed to not think of something I thought of immediately, makes him look like a moron. Not only was this whole scene set up so oddly, but Reed’s characterization and Krasinski not really understanding the character only made me question the “genius” casting decision. Then again, this was a very small sample size, so I can’t judge him too harshly. As a huge John Krasinski fan, I still want him to take on the role of the MCU’s Mr. Fantastic. I’m hoping he still gets that second chance to prove he was the right choice. He’s always had leading man energy and is an incredible talent as an emotional actor and action hero. If you give him some time to study up on who Reed Richards is as a person, I truly think he will be the right choice to star in a standalone Fantastic Four film in the future.

At any rate, this whole inclusion of the Illuminati was jumbled together and rushed from start to finish. As soon as you just start to get acclimated and understand everything, it all feels like a waste of time. Additionally, I usually have an issue with Hollywood writers changing key components, characters, or stories of things they haven’t made for a film adaptation, but I wouldn’t have minded if they changed the name of the Illuminati. It’s almost impossible for casual fans to take the name seriously following years of hearing it’s name associated with government-related conspiracies. I’ve seen this movie a few times with different people and each time, a non-comic book reader has audibly laughed at the introduction to the supergroup. Hell, I knew about them beforehand, and I still laughed because it’s funny to hear out loud. Furthermore, I know the inclusion of the group and Wanda busting everyone’s ass was included for pure shock value and to get the Scarlet Witch to look unstoppable, but the killing of Professor Charles Xavier (Stewart) just felt sacrilegious. After all that man has done in the worldwide famous X-Men franchise, you’re just going to do him like that? This was unfair. I understand everyone else, but not Professor X!

For the record, I did like how he was the closest of anyone to getting through to Wanda up until that point, so there’s that.

I know I mentioned my praise already for Wanda and how she’s come full circle as a character, but this film made it feel like WandaVision almost accomplished nothing, other than continuously telling me how Wanda is important and how I should care who she is. Did we really need to watch the show to fully understand this movie? I’d argue they’ve could’ve explained what happened in Westview in a relatively small flashback sequence. Disney made it known that to keep up with this Doctor Strange sequel, a key thing to watch was WandaVision. They baited me. It was okay and all, but the only episodes that mattered were maybe the last three to four. Maybe I’m mad I fell for it, but I’m not sure. However, I can’t sit here and stress to you that WandaVision was ESSENTIAL viewing material going into this film. I saw this film with a friend and explained what happened in WandaVision in probably two minutes before the movie started. Considering I watched the full nine episodes of the show and was able to explain it in two minutes, I felt cheated because even the finale of the show, the best part I might add, was completely undone as soon as the character appeared in this film. It could even be argued it was all undone in the post-credits scene of the show too, which I referenced in my review of the show. What did WandaVision truly accomplish story-wise? I know she’s a very loving mother. I understand that she figured out a way to be with her loving kids that exist in a different universe, and this is why she reverted back to her original goal but by doing this, it made a majority of the show now pointless.

Also, if her kids exist in a different universe, wouldn’t her entire family exist in a different universe? Why stop with her kids if she can find a universe where her brother Pietro is still alive? Is it because they couldn’t afford Aaron Taylor-Johnson anymore? Is it because taking this sequel in this logical of a route would render the show a complete waste of time? Is it all of the above? Yes, more than likely. Now, all I can say WandaVision did was introduce us to the character of Captain Rambeau, a no-show/non-factor in this movie, despite how important they acted like she was in the show. Relating to this, the most frustrating question is why Wanda doesn’t search for a universe where her loving husband Vision is a part of as well. Why does she just stop with the kids? Why would she accept her husband’s disappearance/death (and her brother’s death) but not her kids, even though she knows they can all exist with the help of the multiverse and the Darkhold? She’s just cool with it now? I don’t buy that because half of WandaVision was about the love the two shared for each other. Basically, I’ve come to the conclusion that WandaVision wasn’t needed. Does it help? Yes, but it wasn’t needed to understand this movie. For casual fans, you’ll be confused regardless.

I’m an avid Marvel fan, so I was fully invested in the movie, but I can totally understand why a passing viewer would get lost at what’s being presented onscreen. However, if you did watch WandaVision, it would give you more questions like the one’s I have pointed out. This is where things start to get tricky because even the screenwriters seem to have trouble keeping everything together.

The MCU is asking a lot out of people…

The formula has worked and still does, but “requiring” you to watch five things before watching this sequel (Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: No Way Home, WandaVision, What If…?, and Loki) is a lot to ask for. On top of that, it’s a little pretentious. You are still fully capable of understanding what is going on if you didn’t watch the latter two. I understand why What If…? is considered to be important because of the inclusion of Captain Carter but even the creators of What If…? seemed to disagree, being quoted as saying that the Doctor Strange sequel got it wrong and their version of Captain Carter “would’ve kicked Wanda’s ass“. Yes, this statement is absurd, but it also just goes to show you how not everyone is on the same page with what is going on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If the creators of the show came to the conclusion that this isn’t the same character (even though it is and this is all petty semantics), then why was it necessary for me to watch it before Multiverse of Madness?

It wasn’t. This is my point.

There are some noticeably campy elements in the movie that stood out as well and though I should expect this coming from Sam Raimi, some things stood out a little too much. The “third eye” appearing on Strange once he was in possession of the Darkhold is a prime example. The idea was cool, but the CGI creation of it was woefully subpar. This also came to mind when Wanda climbed out of that mirror in Kamar-Taj to attack the heroes. The sequence looked like a video game in the worst way, along with a couple of action scenes where Wong’s stunt double was hilariously noticeable. Side note, was it just me, or was Benedict Cumberbatch’s wig much more distinguishable than usual? In the early parts of the movie, it looked visibly fake.

Even for a Marvel movie, there were also a big chunk of illogical missteps I couldn’t ignore. For example, I like Wong and everything, but he should’ve died twice. Not only did he bust his neck on that stone step at Kamar-Taj in the first Wanda fight sequence, but he fell off of a fucking mountain back-first. How does one recover from that this quickly? Either injury should’ve put him out for good. I understand Wanda killed so many people that killing fan-favorite Wong might have been too much for the audience, but why even put him in these unbelievable situations in the first place? I don’t care if he’s technically the Sorcerer Supreme. He’s not “The Man” and we all know it. If we lose him, it’s really not that big of a deal. This is saying something too because I like the guy! Additionally, why does Kamar-Taj insist on using medieval weaponry when fighting off one of the most powerful supervillains in the multiverse? These clowns were using cannons and arrows! I know magical machine guns don’t fit the vibe, but don’t we think loading up a cannon for five minutes while a flying witch is conjuring bombs out of her hands is a bit ridiculous? Why do they have to “rebuild” the fortress too? Can’t they just use their combined powers to build it back up in seconds? In addition, Doctor Strange had to manually patch up his cloak because there was a hole in it. Why can’t he just sew it with his mind? Am I overthinking this or underthinking this? Can this basic stuff not happened because too many magical elements are involved or what?

Never has logic bothered me more in a Marvel film.

Don’t get me wrong, there was still a lot of good in the Multiverse of Madness. Christine’s expanded role proved to be important on many levels, the sequences with Wanda and her kids were awesome as Olsen continues to shine, we got to see the sweet wisdom of Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier one more time, there’s the aforementioned John Krasinski surprise, and the “madness” that actually did appear on screen was worth the wait. This includes the concept of dream walking, the scenic route when trying to grab the Book of Vishanti, and that whole thing in the climax when the souls of the damned attack Strange for dreamwalking in a corpse (something they consider to be trespassing). All of this stuff was the “madness” that I felt was promised. Sadly, they underdelivered in general on said promise.

There was potential here to make this Doctor Strange sequel the wildest endeavor in the history of the MCU, and there were scenes that teased this direction, but they pussied out and didn’t go nearly as far as they should’ve. Early on, there is this amazing sequence when Strange and America Chavez fly through fifteen different universes to escape Wanda, and it took my attention by force. This is what I needed more of. This was the movie I wanted to see. The sequence was breathtaking, but it just seemed weird that after showing all of these universes and the amazing possibilities of what is to come, the two main characters landed in one of the most boring landscapes available, never going back to any of the brightly-colored, unbelievably imaginative locations they teased us with in that lone scene. When you combine this with the backseat Strange seemed to take in favor of a brand new (boring as hell) character and a villain who already had an entire limited series about her beforehand, I left unsatisfied.

Multiverse of Madness was still worth the watch as a fan, but I can’t help but think this was a massive misfire based off what I thought this film could have been and should have been.

Fun Fact: Daniel Craig was set to play Balder the Brave in the Illuminati but backed out because he didn’t want to risk catching COVID-19. This gave us John Krasinski’s Mr. Fantastic as his replacement.