The Marvel Multiverse has cracked open, exploding an infinite new well of possibilities for the long-running multi-franchise cinematic universe. Thankfully, Dr. Stephen Strange is back with a collection of friends new and old alike to take on the threats. Just how mad is it? Let’s find out.
It’s almost impossible to discuss this one without spoilers, so consider yourself warned.
Where were we? How mad is the Marvel Multiverse? Well, coming off of the show-stopping extravaganza of creativity that was ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once,’ any new flick taking on the subject of alternate dimensions was stuck with a hard act to follow. The Daniels’ wild adventure took full advantage of the narrative and emotional possibilities of playing in a multiversal sandbox. And Dr. Strange? Outside of a spellbinding minute-long sequence in which our heroes slam through a litany of worlds, most of our time in alternate realities is spent in a world almost the same as ours, only slightly more futuristic. Marvel's vision of the Multiverse seems less one of infinite possibility and more of a marketing strategy to insert cameos that will get them trending online.
This is a constant struggle throughout the film - the generic, tried-and-true Marvel Formula clashing with the vision of an auteur director. With Scott Derrickson stepping away from the wheel after helming the strange doctor’s origin film way back in 2016, Sam Raimi stepped into the director’s chair. A pioneer in both the horror and superhero genres, Raimi seemed the perfect fit. And he is, at least whenever the studio actually lets him do his thing.
But first, let's rundown the plot: ‘Multiverse of Madness’ honestly has less to do with the hero’s origin film than it does with ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ ‘WandaVision,’ and ‘Spider-man: Far From Home.’ Strange (again excellently portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) is left coping with his former love interest Christine (Rachel McAdams) getting married to another man while privately grappling with the lives lost because of the choices he made to defeat Thanos during ‘Infinity War.’ Into all this crashes America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a young woman with multiversal powers she can’t control, being chased across dimensions by a legion of monsters.
Strange turns to his old ally Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) for help, only to abruptly realize that Wanda is in fact the person hunting America, planning to kill the girl and steal her powers so that she can scour the Multiverse for the children she lost in WandaVision. (Why kill the kid and not just ask for help? Who's to say. There's... a lot to say about the plot, very little of it good.) Strange and America flee into the Multiverse, with Wanda in hot pursuit.
While there has been much debate over Wanda’s malevolent turn, she is by far the best part of the movie. Raimi directs her as a full-on horror villain, and Olsen is more than happy to play along. She gives an incredible performance, and is in moments truly terrifying, something very few Marvel foes can boast to. She fits perfectly with Raimi’s twisted vision, and it shines. Unfortuantely, there is another movie fighting for space within the shockingly short two hour runtime. And that’s where the problems start.
To cut to the chase: The script is a mess. At best, it’s a low-effort, generic super-tale. At worst, it’s a mess of plot contrivances, awkward jokes, fan service and narrative inconsistencies, penned by a team of writers who still can’t decide if Stephen Strange is supposed to be the stoic, aloof sorcerer of the comics or a quip-slinging Tony Stark with magic hands. It is clear the script was well underway before Raimi arrived on the scene, and it's alarmingly easy to pick which scenes and narrative threads he was invested in compared to those that were studio mandates. The horror elements, for example, and the magic duels - used here to far more innovative effect than ever before in the franchise (an orchestral showdown between two rival Stranges really sings, pun intended) - are some of the best content the MCU has released in years. Meanwhile, scenes like the much-hyped Illuminati sequence are clunky and drag the story to a halt. We’re forced to sit still as the suits hijack the plot to copy-and-paste actors from old movies onto the screen instead of letting our main character confront the reality that the utopian world he found himself in is the result of a version of Infinity War that didn't involve him sacrificing thousands of lives.
I wish that I could love ‘Multiverse of Madness’ way more than I do. The cast absolutely delivers: As already mentioned, Olsen as Wanda is a perfect villain, exuding menace while never losing grip on the audience’s sympathy. Gomez makes a stellar debut as America - a star-making turn (again, pun-intended) that sets up a very exciting future in the MCU. Benedict Wong is expectedly great as Wong and Rachel McAdams finally has something meaningful to do as Christine. Chiwetel Ejiofor is sadly wasted, however, after getting a whole movie’s worth of build-up in the first film; Michael Stuhlberg more-so, his 1 minute of screentime, undercut by a needless punchline, makes his prominent place in the credits the funniest joke of the movie.
And of course Benedict Cumberbatch continues to hold his place as the most gifted leading man in the Marvel line-up. Yet you can’t help but wish he had more consistent material; watching him force his way through the cringy jokes and inconsistent characterization he is handed grows increasingly painful. The Russo Brothers seemed to be steering him in a good direction with his time in ‘Infinity War,’ but between ‘No Way Home’ and ‘Multiverse of Madness,’ he’s regressed back to the convoluted, quippy Marvel trope from his solo film. You can feel his performance yearning to be free to set itself apart, while still bound to a cookie-cutter frame.
Danny Elfman’s score is also terrific, especially his instantly iconic guitar riff theme for Wanda, and the editing is a refreshing throwback to when editors were still given creative leeway. The final shot/cut combo of the movie proper is so perfect… if only it weren’t ruined by an anti-climatic post-credit scene just a few minutes later.
All this goes to say - I really wish we could have seen the version of this movie free from studio “guidance.” As is, it's ultimately a middle-of-the-road potpourri of the best and the worst of what superhero movies can be: Dazzling, unique adventures on one hand and half-hearted, focus-grouped corporate product on the other. I only hope that the praise the innovative parts of the movie received can sway Marvel’s hand to put some faith in their artists and let them make truly memorable cinema with these great characters.
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