Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness lives up to its name. There is a lot of multiverse action and it is crazy. The phrase "we're all mad here" has never been more apt because of the gruesome deaths and giant green minotaur. The 14 maddest things in Multiverse of Madness are ranked by how crazy they are.
Doctor Strange is in the Multiverse of Madness.
America Chavez probably knows more about the multiverse than anyone else, which makes her declaration that food is free in most universes weird. What else is free if most universes have figured out that food should be free? What about healthcare? What about housing? Isn't that socialism? Is socialism the systemic default across realities? Can we get a pizza ball?
Dr. West's cat isn't dead, it's on his head. Credit: Marvel Studios 2022
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness went even harder on weird-ass headpieces than Iron Man 2 and Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel did, but it's not like they've never been the best at putting their characters in decent or even mildly believable wigs. There are two Doctor Stranges, one with a ponytail and one with a skater wig. Captain Carter and Christine buy their hair at Party City, and the mid-credit scene is a mystery to everyone.
We saw a lot of different universes in this movie, but can we just backtrack to the one where everyone is made of paint? People are just dripping around. Is there an equivalent of The Avenger? Did they fight paint-fight? Belen Edwards is an Entertainment Reporter.
Bruce Campbell's appearance becomes the butt of a joke in Multiverse of Madness. That has been a point of contention between him and Raimi for a long time. The joke here, in which Doctor Strange curses a poor, schmucky street vendor to three weeks, is rubber-room levels of crazy.
We barely knew ye. Credit: Marvel Studios 2022
It is nice that Wong appears to have something going on with a lovely lady. There is no reason for HR to have a problem with the dating within Kamar-Taj. The upsetting part is getting a rare glimpse at Wong's rich inner life and Wanda immediately frying his maybe-girlfriend in a maelstrom of chaos lava. A.N. is rude.
The moment we knew Sam Raimi was going to bring goop and gore to the MCU was when Doctor Strange defeated Shuma-Gorath. Stephen stabs the demon with a lamppost, then yanks it out, and Raimi makes sure we see and hear every splatter and squelch. It is not the grossest moment in the movie, but it sets the bar very high.
Danny Elfman's score is a blast, but Multiverse of Madness really ramps it up to 11 when Doctor Strange fights Dark Strange with the power of classical music. The battle we all needed to see was Beethoven's symphony No. 5 vs. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor.
We all saw this guy. Kamar-Taj is a mystical place, but up until now it has been wizard-mystical, not giant green minotaur chillin in the background for many, many scenes-mystical. The minotaur is likely Rintrah, a little known character from the comics who is a giant green minotaur. They put a bull-man in a robe with no context and expected everyone to ignore it.
On the other hand, yeeting America Chavez's two moms through a multiversal portal makes for a truly epic way to go. We could also not. Is it really necessary to off this beautiful couple as an origin-story plot point? It's nice to be faithful to the comics, but they can have a good story that strays from the source material.
Can somebody help this child? Take her to the Relaxation Universe? Credit: Marvel Studios 2022
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens with an alt-universe Doctor Strange trying to kill America Chavez, and things go downhill for her from there. The bad guys want to kill her. The good guys want to kill her. At one point America herself gives up and is like, "All right already, kill me and take my power!" She only has her powers when she is frightened. Maybe keeping her calm and safe is a better way to protect her from harm.
Sam Raimi has a knack for turning photos into nightmare fuel. It happens a few times during Multiverse of Madness, but it is never more upsetting and frightening than when Wanda emerges from the reflection in a broken gong.
Even with Raimi at the helm, no one expects an exclusive Evil Dead moment. The beautiful maniac gave us Zombie Strange. He flies in on wings made of goopy reaper demons and is ready to deliver a motivational speech and wink to the doctor. We love every moment of it, it is wholesome and frightening in one beautifully deranged package.
Getting the Illuminati in Multiverse of Madness is like getting a fan on a monkey's paw. Do you want John Krasinski to play Reed Richards? He will be man spaghetti in 10 minutes. Are you excited for Black Bolt and Captain Carter? One blows his own skull and the other is cut in half. And for Professor X and Maria Rambeau? It is squishy and snappy for them. We didn't see it coming, but boy was it great.
You know, Wanda! The woman who canonically has not caught a break since she was 9 years old. Credit: Marvel Studios 2022
Consider America Chavez, a brave young woman who spends an entire feature-length film convincing the good guys not to kill her. Wanda Maximoff, who was born into trauma, and ended up projecting that trauma into an illusory family that she conjured up out of thin air, was a nightmare for the residents of Westview, New Jersey.
She emerged from Wandavision with a deeper, darker purpose that can be seen in Multiverse of Madness. She only stopped when the good guys used Wanda's fake family to re-traumatize her and she destroyed Wundagore, the focal point of her evil acts.
In a story and movie that is already completely off the wall, letting the good guys win by convincing a villain who was shaped by tragedy to kill herself is several thousand steps beyond the pale.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a movie.
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