Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness directed by Sam Rami was an interesting and somewhat disappointing sequel for the Marvel Universe. This movie has me conflicted, I’m not quite sure exactly how those that are new to the MCU would perceive it, as it was not a stand alone film. Most of this movie’s plot relied on Wandavision which made for a good but somewhat incomplete movie that develops Wanda more as a character (which isn’t a bad thing but for a movie about Doctor Strange it wasn’t the best decision). This movie would have benefited from being instead marketed as a follow up to Wandavision simply called “the Multiverse of Madness”. 

That being said, the fight scenes in this movie are some of the coolest we’ve seen in the MCU. The magic in this movie is much more comic-like, and bizarre, compared to that of the previous movie which was much more symmetrical and trippy. I like this style of magic much better. It’s very visually appealing and gives us a way more comic accurate representation. 

As I mentioned, this felt a lot more like a Wanda movie. They took her character in a direction I was not expecting which was a straight villain. They gave us a dark version of the character, and I think it worked really well for her character after you get over the fact that she switched sides relatively quickly (though the flip is justified well). 

Wanda also was the reason I would classify this movie under the darker side of the MCU, at multiple points she brutally kills several people. This horror-esk tone is definitely something I would like to see in more MCU projects because it ended up being one of my favorite factors of this movie. But there were some cheesy undertones that (in retrospect) surprisingly worked well for the overall film. It brings it back to its comic roots that weren’t always completely serious or easy to explain. 

The multiverse was a big part of this movie, yet it doesn’t seem like “madness” ; it feels more like “oh yeah, there’s a multiverse too”. Through the course of this movie they only really visit a couple universes and it feels a little disappointing and underwhelming. 

Along with the introduction of the Multiverse came the first on screen introduction to America Chavez, that delivers on Marvel’s plan for phase four of Marvel which is to include more awesome female characters. She fits right in with characters like Kate bishop (hawkeye) & Sylvie (Loki). This character is very powerful too and I can’t wait to see how they fit her into the bigger picture of the MCU.

Overall, I would have to rate this movie a 3.5 out of 5. It definitely isn’t the best movie but all Marvel fans will enjoy it and it delivers on most fan expectations. I would note that if you do want to see this film make sure that you have seen Wandavison because it is very important to the plot and will allow you to properly watch and enjoy the movie!