Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: A Review
By: Mallory Johnson
The newest Doctor Strange movie came out over the summer, and I loved it! I watched the trailer many times and thought I had an idea what the movie followed, but after seeing the actual film I realized I was very wrong! The movie follows new young hero America Chavez, who enlists the help of sorcerer Doctor Strange with the multiverse and one “villain” they do not see coming. Before I go any further, MAJOR SPOILER ALERT. Also, trigger warnings for: threats of kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, attempted murder, murder, loss, death, grief, violence, jump scares, blood and gore, a zombie, stalking, drugging, brief torture, a seizure, ghosts, possession, off-screen vomit, suicide, and car crashes. The movie stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, Avengers Endgame), Elizabeth Olsen (Wandavision, Avengers Endgame), Benedict Wong (Spiderman No Way Home, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls, The Vow), and Xochitl Gomez (The Babysitters Club, Gentefied). There are also several fun cameos!
The movie can be considered horror with jump scares and other horror tropes; this is interesting to me because Marvel is typically family friendly. There was one point when I first saw it on opening night that I jumped at a jump scare and the woman sitting in the theatre beside me laughed at me! The film also has an emotional aspect that you would only fully understand if you had either seen the Marvel Disney+ show Wandavision or have a basic summary/understanding of the events of the show. The many plot twists in the movie shocked me; I did not see any of them coming! I was wondering if they were going to make Wanda Maximoff (also known as the Scarlet Witch) a villain or a hero, and I totally understand why they made her a villain. It was very interesting to see a character that I loved as a hero and Avenger turn into a grief-stricken villain who just wants to live a life with her two children. One of my favorite parts of the movie was when they first introduced Wanda, and the Wandavision theme song played in the background! Wanda had some great one-liners in the movie, like the wicked “What mouth?” Another one I love is “You break the rules and become a hero. I do it and I become the enemy. That doesn’t seem fair.” The title Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is excellent for this movie and does a good job of summarizing the movie in one title.
I loved how Marvel introduced new hero America Chavez into the Marvel Cinematic Universe! If you pay close attention, you can see that she is wearing a Pride flag pin which I love. Marvel does not have the best track record with LGBTQ2S+ representation, so although it was small, it was still very nice to see.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and where Marvel took the story of the Multiverse! Before watching this movie, I highly recommend watching Wandavision. I loosely recommend watching the Marvel show What If, and Spiderman: No Way Home! I give the second Doctor Strange movie a very strong 10/10 and highly recommend watching it if you love Marvel movies as much as I do!