When it was announced that Sam Raimi, the filmmaker behind The Evil Dead (1981) and Darkman (1990), would direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, waves of hope bounced through the horror fandom, with thoughts that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was getting its first horror film.
While the newest entry in the MCU doesn’t quite jump fully into the horror genre, it certainly counts as coming extremely close. The film again stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role and is joined by Elizabeth Olsen, Xochitl Gomez, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness follows the events of WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Strange finds himself battling internal regrets for the choice he had to make in allowing Thanos to erase half of the universe’s population for five years. Strange contemplates what he could have done differently and deals with losing his chance at being with his former love, Christine.
During Christine’s wedding, a young, super-powered America Chavez (Gomez) lands in New York after hopping universes to escape an evil power trying to steal her abilities. Realizing other versions of himself have been defeated by this evil, Strange goes to Wanda Maximoff (Olsen) for help, unknowing that she’s been dabbling in dark magic from the Darkhold since her showdown with Agatha Harkness.
To start with the direction, this film is probably the most director-stylized in the MCU. With the exception of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy films, Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, and Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, most other MCU films follow a formulaic process and let the actors and characters carry the films. Almost all of them feel like they could have been directed by the same person. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a Sam Raimi film. So much so that those looking for a breath of fresh air in the MCU will probably love it, while those looking for more of the same may be unhappy with it.
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Raimi has always wanted his audiences to have fun with his films. Even his most serious stories have cheesy winks and lines, camera zoom-ins to squinty, suspicious eyes, and delayed moments on screen to match up with whatever brilliant score the film uses. All of these are prevalent in this film, making it feel a little more on par with his 2002 Spider-Man film than other entries in the MCU.
I’m a huge fan of Raimi’s style and substance, so I had a blast with it, but even I’ve got to admit that the change in pace and style was a little disorienting at first, especially after just finishing up Moon Knight the night before. Danny Elfman’s return to the MCU for the first time since Avengers: Age of Ultron is phenomenal. His score for Dr. Strange 2 is probably top three for me, along with Loki and Thor: Ragnarok.
The acting was excellent, with Olsen giving one of the best performances of the MCU thus far. This film was just as much a Scarlet Witch film as anything else. Though there weren’t as many multiverse cameos as the build-up led audiences to believe, the few there were surprising and strong, and now have Marvel fans aching to know who will be included in the MCU (Earth-616) future.
As far as the overall feel of Doctor Strange 2, this is about as close to an R-rating as you can get without going overboard. Some truly brutally unsettling scenes made me think about them days after seeing the film. As a fan of Raimi and horror, I smiled ear-to-ear once the dark magic started flowing. There have been some complaints throughout the MCU regarding the messages and action sequences being too much for young children. This is the first MCU film I would warn parents about bringing their children to see.
Though I don’t think Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the strongest MCU entry of Phase IV (it will be tough to beat No Way Home), it was a nice change to get a darker and more fun inclusion from Sam Raimi.
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