By: Andrew Wing

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a 2022 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics featuring the character Doctor Strange. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Doctor Strange (2016) and the 28th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man trilogy, Evil Dead franchise), written by Michael Waldron (Rick and Morty, Loki), and stars Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game, Sherlock) as Stephen Strange, alongside Elizabeth Olsen (Wind River, WandaVision), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, The Martian), Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: No Way Home), Xochitl Gomez (The Baby-Sitters Club), Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man, Fargo), and Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Mean Girls). In the film, Strange protects America Chavez (Gomez), a teenager capable of traveling the multiverse, from Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch (Olsen).

Doctor Strange director and co-writer Scott Derrickson had plans for a sequel by October 2016. He signed to return as director in December 2018, when Cumberbatch was confirmed to return. The film's title was announced in July 2019 along with Olsen's involvement, while Jade Halley Bartlett was hired to write the film that October. Derrickson stepped down as director in January 2020, citing creative differences. Waldron and Raimi joined the following month and started over, adding elements of the horror genre that Raimi had worked with previously and making Maximoff the villain of the film, continuing her story from the series WandaVision (2021). Filming began in November 2020 in London but was put on hold in January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed by March 2021 and concluded in mid-April in Somerset. Shooting also occurred in Surrey and Los Angeles.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on May 2, 2022, and was released in the United States on May 6, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. It was eventually released on Disney+ on June 22, 2022. It grossed over $944 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2022 thus far.

THE GOOD

About damn time! Anyone reading this who might be asking themselves “didn’t this movie come out like a month and a half ago?”, yes it did. But Ted is a busy man and so am I to a lesser extent because I don’t have kids of my own yet. Nevertheless, with it hitting Disney+ today, I figured today would be the perfect time to post a review for what was the 28th film in the iconic Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. To provide some more context though, I remember being worried how this film would fare after Derrickson stepped down, but once I heard that the legendary director Sam Raimi would be stepping in, all of my fears went goodbye. Also, the combination of this being the first true Marvel movie to combat the multiverse if you don’t count Spider-Man: No Way Home (see our full review here) and the fact that the first trailer for it was arguably one of the best trailers ever, my expectations were through the roof. But did it match my expectations? Keep reading to find out!

That’s tough to answer because my expectations were literally sky high and I was projecting this to be easily a top 10 MCU film, and while I don’t know if it hit that bar, this movie was still great. It was genuinely entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. A big reason why I did so much was just because of how creative and unique it was, and the main reason was because of the man that was in charge, the one and only Sam Raimi. Before I dive into Raimi’s direction, I just need to commend Kevin Feige for allowing Raimi to basically have full creative freedom over this project because this is a great example of what can happen when you let this man do his thing.

Now to Raimi, this is absolutely a Sam Raimi film. No doubt about it. I am a huge fan of the Evil Dead franchise despite not being a big horror guy, and I grew up on his Spider-Man trilogy, so I love the dude. But yeah with me being familiar with his filmography, it didn’t take me very long to see his style and technique stamped all over this movie. He somehow brought both his expertise of the superhero genre and also the horror genre, and used both of them to make MCU’s first true horror film and easily the MCU’s darkest film yet as it really pushed that PG-13 boundary. I mean there were moments in this movie that genuinely startled me and made me gasp. At the end of the day, Raimi crushed this and I hope Feige brings him back for future MCU projects because he is a creative genius and he made this film unforgettable.

And because of the horror elements Raimi plastered all over this film, we not only got a great overall film, but it also allowed us to get one of the best individual performances the MCU has ever had from Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch. For starters, Olsen as an actress must’ve been so excited once she got the script from writer Michael Waldron because her character in this is so different from the Wanda we are used to seeing, because in this she’s literally a demon. She was phenomenal here as the film’s antagonist and it was another great step in the right direction following her tremendous performance in the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision. You could feel everything her character was feeling and her performance was so good that she made you as an audience member feel like everything she was doing was justifiable even though it wasn’t. I was just so impressed with Olsen here and I cannot wait to see what she does next!

Now Olsen stole the show for me here, but Benedict Cumberbatch was amazing as always as Doctor Stephen Strange. Doctor Strange is honestly one of my favorite superheroes and a big reason why is just because of how Cumberbatch portrays him. Also, I just love Cumberbatch as an actor and I’m still pissed he didn’t win the Best Actor Academy Award this year over Will Smith (#TeamChrisRock) for his performance in The Power of the Dog (see my full review here). Back to his portrayal of Strange in this though, he just continued to solidify the fact that he is the perfect casting for this character as he just comes off as intelligent, but also has a great sense of humor and can be intimidating when he needs to be.

This shouldn’t be a news flash because it’s a Marvel film, but the visuals we got here were stunning. More than that, with this being a multiverse movie, we got so many fantastic visuals. Sure there were some moments that had some questionable CGI like every superhero movie, but overall I thought this movie’s visual portrayal of the multiverse was fascinating and it was entertaining to watch, to say the least.

Those were the main things I liked the most about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but can’t forget to touch on the other small things I appreciated. Benedict Wong was as awesome as he always is, Xochitl Gomez quickly proved that she will make a great addition to the MCU, and it was also great to see some familiar faces return in both Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams. Also, the music that was done by Danny Elfman was one of my favorites of all the MCU films as it went hand and hand with Raimi’s directorial tone. And lastly, we got some great post credit scenes like we always do and I won’t spoil it, but we got some outstanding fan service in this bad boy! That’s all I’ll say.

THE BAD

I love superhero films, especially those of the MCU, and I had a blast with this from start to finish, but with that said, the film is not without its flaws. Like I said, it’s not a top tier Marvel movie. Sure I had some problems with the script but I have a lot of respect for Waldron coming in and taking the bull by the horn with this multiversal movie that I’m sure was incredibly challenging to write. But more than that, the biggest problem with this movie for me was the runtime.

This movie clocks in at just over two hours, which compared to previous MCU movies is on the shorter side. And in those two hours, they packed a whole hell of a lot into and it was non-stop from the start, and sure maybe they wanted to stay true to the film’s title by having it be utter madness, but it just made the movie feel a little bit rushed to me and I wish there was a little more time to flesh out this wild story because I think that this could have been a top-tier Marvel movie if they didn’t try and pack so much in just two hours.

THE VERDICT

Easily the darkest Marvel film yet thanks to the influence of director Sam Raimi, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness effectively blends action and horror with eye-popping CGI making for one heck of a wild ride. Also, Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen both gave their best performances yet as members of the MCU.

Sure, I had some minor problems with the plot, but at the end of the day, it was unique, creative, and a hell of a lot of fun to watch, so what more do you need?