Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

By Jonah Naplan

May 5, 2022

The biggest weakness of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” is that it fails to remain its own adventure, a recurring issue with much of big budget franchises nowadays. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the movie, and I still think it’s watchable entertainment. But before I get into why, I would like to make a comparison. The previous MCU entry before this massively hyped magnum opus was a niche, more smaller-scale show, that of “Moon Knight.” That show literally ended only yesterday, so it still remains fresh in my mind. Marvel has, in truth, been cramming a lot of content into the recent months, but that’s irrelevant for the time being. I just want to point out how Marvel concluded their most recent project only a day before their next one, and yet, that one was far more focused on being its own thing, than a part of the greater story.

Sure, it’s important for Marvel to be looking at the bigger picture and the future of their franchise, and I recognize how significant setup can be, but as a viewer, watching a movie more concerned with the future than the present, I cannot help but wonder what it all meant. “Multiverse of Madness” has so many moving pieces at once, so many culminating plotlines, CGI-action sequences, and genres, (horror being a main player) that it gets lost, and doesn’t take the time to stop and think about the story it genuinely wants to tell. It’s really overwhelming for all of the wrong reasons, the most prominent being that the film is only two hours and six minutes long, a runtime so shockingly short, especially for a movie that seems to promise a big epic adventure, exploring the multiple dimensions contained in the multiverse. If an additional thirty minutes was added onto the runtime, it may have been lengthy, but at least the ideas being showcased would have been allowed more precious time to breathe. “Moon Knight” was a focused, straight-forward story that maintained its attention towards genuinely important details, providing an experience that has now become one of my favorites in the MCU. I wish “Multiverse of Madness” could be more like “Moon Knight.”

Spoilers will be very light, don’t worry.

In “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” Stephen Strange and America Chavez, a young woman with trans-multiversal powers who can open portals to other universes, are on the run from Wanda Maximoff, who is under the spell of Darkhold, and wants nothing more than the ability to utilize America’s power, desiring to live in a universe where she can be with her children. Along the way, they team up with Christine, Stephen’s former lover, travel through the multiverse, make a man punch himself repeatedly, and well…some extra surprises happen along the way.

Sam Raimi, director of the original "Spider-Man" trilogy, and the "Evil Dead" movies, incorporates many new horror aspects to the MCU, making a film so different from other Marvel movies. The film may open in a considerably generic fashion, but once you get into the second half of the film, the true power of his director’s eye takes flight. I realize that once you strip away the multiverse, Doctor Strange, the cameos, and the occasional twist and turn, the plot is quite generic, but at the same time, at least there are things to strip away.

Benedict Cumberbatch remains exemplary in the role of Doctor Strange, a character that I’ve wanted to see more of since “Avengers: Infinity War.” He plays off of America (Xochitl Gomez) very nicely, as well as Wanda, and the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong. Cumberbatch is very good at witty dialogue, and there’s a lot of it here. Sure, you definitely get your typical Marvel humor every now and then, but there is also a good amount of darker humor that won’t work for everyone. In addition to the jumpscares that are dispersed throughout the third act, the film also easily contains the goriest kills in the MCU. Again, not for everyone.

There was one action scene in the first thirty minutes of “Multiverse of Madness” that I found to be quite dull. And it was at that point where I realized, if this movie doesn’t have a turning point soon, I probably will not end up liking it. Luckily, it did soon afterwards, as Strange and America entered the multiverse. But even so, the movie still doesn’t seem like the “Multiverse of Madness.” “Madness” would entail a much longer runtime, more universes to be explored, (we really only visit one) and hundreds of more characters. In all honesty, the movie only focuses on five people, Doctor Strange, Wong, America, Wanda, and Christine Palmer. If Marvel wants to make a smaller-scale movie, it’s alright with me, it’s just that a movie titled “Multiverse of Madness” shouldn’t be the one.

When it was all over, I really couldn’t stop thinking, “that’s it?” The movie just feels so underwhelming for what the trailers seemed to promise. It’s a film that remains entertaining because of the adventure at hand, but for a Marvel movie, we come to expect more depth to the characters and plot than what we received. There were aspects of the movie that will certainly be crowd-pleasing, although there didn’t seem to be nearly enough of them. It’s just not a memorable Marvel movie, regardless of how epic it may have seemed. The trailers just didn’t do it justice, they really did show all of the best parts.

This movie is sure to make four septillion dollars at the box office this weekend, and many Marvel fans and cinephiles will leave their respective movie theaters satisfied with the product that we got. But I’ve seen Marvel do better than this. They demonstrated their skill only yesterday with “Moon Knight.” I think I have to see the movie again. I enjoyed the film coming out of the theater, but the more I think about it, the less I like it. I hope I get to visit the multiverse someday. Maybe there’s an alternate universe where this movie is better.