Marvel Gets Messy in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’
When you really think about it, a lot of the stuff in Marvel movies is imaginative nonsense. We’ve got Norse gods who travel via rainbow bridge, a talking raccoon and a sentient tree, a big purple alien who wants to collect magical rocks for his genocide glove—it all sounds pretty bonkers. But over the course of more than 20 movies, Marvel has taken the crazier elements of the comic book world and made them accessible to general moviegoers to the tune of billions of dollars and the most successful film franchise of all time.
Unfortunately, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it can feel like you need to do some homework and required reading before you can really connect with the overstuffed plot and the seemingly infinite list of totems and easter eggs surrounding the characters. That imaginative nonsense starts to overwhelm the story and, for the first time, we’re left with a Marvel movie that doesn’t feel particularly accessible to people who are not already deep in comic book lore.
When we last saw Dr. Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he was cooking up a spell for Spider-Man to make everyone forget Peter Parker so he could go on fighting crime without putting his friends in jeopardy. Sure, spontaneous spellcasting for a buddy felt a little out of character for a guy who has been rather cold and logical up until this point, but Strange’s actions were more a catalyst to get the plot rolling, so we didn’t really have to dwell on it. Spider-Man: No Way Home was a multiverse movie, but the core of the story was our Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and the alternate universe crossovers didn’t distract from that central character.
In Multiverse of Madness, Strange has adjusted to a post-Avengers life of being a hero, but he still has regrets about not being with Christine (Rachel McAdams), who we first see at her wedding to another guy. The wedding is interrupted when a giant cycloptic octopus attacks a girl on a neighboring block and Strange rushes to the rescue.
The girl is America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who is being hunted by monsters because she has the superpower of being able to hop between universes, though seemingly has no control over where she ends up. She was previously helped by an alternate version of Strange and now she needs the help of our Dr. Strange to prevent this enormous power from getting into the wrong hands and potentially destroying all the universes.
Strange enlists the help of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) who has her own motivations as she grieves he life she lost at the end of WandaVision.
The film opens with a trippy CCI action sequence centered on America Chavez, someone we’ve never met, but we’ve gotten to know a lot of characters since 2008 and we’re pretty used to weirdness at this point, so we have faith that we’re going to understand what’s happening pretty soon. The problem is that the story just keeps barreling forward from there and getting more bloated with enchanted objects and things to remember before we can invest in America as a character and care about why Strange needs to save her. There’s the Darkhold, the Book of Vishanti, people talk about Dreamwalking, multiversal portals, alternate versions of characters, dimensions collapsing in on themselves—dogs and cats living together!
Beyond a brief flashback, there’s really no time to get to know this brand new character of America Chavez and she can often feel more like a plot device than a person. We know Strange, but he’s not exactly the pillar of charm and engagement, so he’s still a little too aloof for audiences to really latch onto. Then there’s Wanda, who we also know and care about, but she’s in full villain mode here, so she’s not really an anchorpoint for audiences either. It can make the whole thing feel like falling into a rushing river and trying to find a rock or something to cling onto before you get swept further downstream.
Despite the jumbled storyline, there are some really great moments that make you wish the rest of the movie was as good. Most of these can be attributed to director Sam Raimi, whose visual style and flare for horror shine through even the thickest Disney gloss. Whenever the story gets too convoluted and we start to check out, Raimi gives us something visually dynamic and engaging to keep us interested. He also doesn’t shy away from scary or gross moments. This movie definitely earns its PG-13 rating with more gore and violence than we’ve ever seen in a Marvel film. At times, it can feel like a very light version of The Boys or Invincible, and that ends up being a huge strength to differentiate it from the more generic Marvel fare we’re used to.
Likewise, the cast are all strong and doing what they can with what they’re given. Gomez doesn’t really get the chance to do more than look scared, but you can see the potential in her character and I’ll look forward to seeing more of her. Cumberbatch is allowed to get more campy and free than in previous iterations of Strange and you can tell he’s having fun with the character. Still, the standout is absolutely Olsen, who expertly generates both empathy and fear for Wanda/Scarlet Witch. It feels like it’s been so long since WandaVision and it’s so nice to see her really flex her skills again here. I just wish the movie would have given us more of a chance to connect with any one of these characters for more than a few moments so we’d have something to grab onto at the core of the film.
Usually, we don’t have to be well-versed in the comic storylines to get into the MCU because they take their time building up each phase and getting us invested in the characters so we’ll care about what happens to them. All the superpowers and magical totems serve as a background for compelling characters and action that feels like it carries weight in the overall storyline. Over the years, Marvel took us from a cocky genius arms dealer in a cave to to a genocidal purple guy with a golden glove of space rocks. We can do weird. But the weird has to serve the story and it needs to be built in a way that’s accessible to people unfamiliar with the comics. That’s why everyone from elementary school kids to grandparents can get into the MCU: the characters are the anchorpoint for the CGI action taking place around them. I wish that were still the case with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but despite Raimi’s skills and style, it’s just a little too hard to connect with this movie.
