On an estimated budget of $165 million, Doctor Strange grossed over $232 million domestically and $677 million worldwide. The film also earned critical appraisal and an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects but lost to The Jungle Book. In 2017, Scott Derrickson announced that he would be returning to helm a sequel and finalized the deal in 2018. Unfortunately, Marvel and Derrickson announced in 2020 that he would be leaving the project over creative differences. Despite his reluctance due to how Spider-Man 3 turned out, Sam Raimi agreed to take on the project. Michael Waldron, who previously wrote Rick & Morty and Loki, was brought to rewrite the script with Raimi. Principal photography began in November 2020, and much of the cast was excited to be working with Raimi. After numerous delays due to COVID and rescheduling, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness hit theaters in May 2022.
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Synopsis
A young woman named America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who can travel between dimensions, ends up in our world. A giant, one-eyed creature is chasing after her, which Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) sees and goes to fight. After he rescues her, America explains her situation to Strange and Wong (Benedict Wong) and asks for their help. Strange decides to visit Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) for assistance, only to learn she sent the monster after Chavez. It turns out Wanda wants America’s powers to travel to an alternate dimension where she can be with her sons. Strange refuses, so Wanda attacks Kamar-Taj, and America accidentally teleports herself and Strange to another world. Since Wanda’s power comes from a book called The Darkhold, Strange needs to find its antithesis, the Book of Vishanti. With the fate of the multiverse at stake, will our heroes succeed, and what will happen to America?
Review
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is probably one of the most bizarre and insane Marvel movies. On the one hand, its out-there nature helps it stand out from the glut of superhero movies. On the other hand, its bizarre tone and convoluted plot may not attract more casual viewers. Without going into spoilers, there is so much going on in the story that it can be overwhelming. With Sam Raimi at the helm, this movie has the pulp superhero style as his Spider-Man trilogy and Darkman. Raimi also manages to work in some horror movie elements, one particular moment reminding me of Evil Dead II. For a PG-13 Marvel movie, there’s a surprising amount of carnage, with characters dying in horrifically brutal ways. They manage to go just far enough with the gore that the movie teeters the line between PG-13 and R.
Benedict Cumberbatch is solid as the titular character, delivering plenty of charisma and wit mixed in with pathos. Relative newcomer Xochitl Gomez works well off of Cumberbatch, though she can come off as an annoying sidekick. The stand-out performance is from Elizabeth Olsen, who manages to be both terrifying and sympathetic as the Scarlet Witch. She’s one of those villains who does horrific things, but you can understand her motivation to have an everyday life. While Rachael McAdams has more to do this time around, Chiwetel Ejiofor has a much smaller role. As with any Marvel movie, the action sequences are larger than life and exciting, especially with Raimi at the helm. What helps is the score by Danny Elfman, which is probably one of the more memorable scores in the MCU. Overall, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may be a mess, but it’s an enjoyable mess.
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