REVIEW: Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness

This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I’m disappointed.


Back in 2020, I stated on my old Twitter that removing Scott Derrickson as the director and co-writer was a huge mistake, and in my opinion, I was right. Sam Raimi and Michael Waldron did not do this movie- and one character in particular- justice.

Overall, the movie was generally enjoyable. Maybe it would've been more enjoyable if people didn’t stop using spoiler warnings across the internet only three days after the film’s release, but whatever.

Benedict Cumberbatch was amazing as Stephen Strange, as usual. Benedict Wong expanded the Wong Cinematic Universe greatly once again, and Xochitl Gomez was a great addition as America Chavez. While I don’t think Elizabeth Olsen completely stole the show, her acting was definitely at an all time high in this film. I have to disagree with the majority saying that this felt more like a Scarlet Witch movie rather than a Doctor Strange movie. Though it seemed like more of a follow up to WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home than it did a sequel to Doctor Strange (2016), I felt like I was watching a Doctor Strange movie throughout.

Speaking of Scarlet Witch, I did not enjoy what Raimi and Waldron did with her character. It felt like they took the ending of WandaVision (as well as most of Wanda’s canon appearances), crumpled it up and threw it in the trash. I understood that she was going to have a villain arc at one point or another, but the way they handled it was sloppy and left too many open ends. Wanda’s only motivation for becoming a villain being her children did not sit right with me. Considering that I wrote a short essay analyzing Wanda’s character and her development in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I believe that if she wanted her family back she would take all or nothing. Her parents, Pietro, Vision, and her kids. After finding out that the multiverse was real and full of endless possibilities, she would want nothing less. (Also, an extra f*** you to Raimi for refusing to watch WandaVision beforehand. Maybe that would’ve made the difference.)

As for the writing in general, it was absolute shit. I even turned to my friend in the theater and jokingly asked if “this film was secretly written by Chris Chibnall” after the ice cream song scene. I hope that Marvel Studios never lets Waldron write another Marvel Cinematic Universe project after this (including Loki season two).

The cameos were… alright. I think myself and everyone else going into this movie were expecting more characters, but all we got were five variants who folded like chairs as soon as Wanda entered the picture. It was honestly really disappointing that we got any cameos at all and then they’re all killed off instantly. That just didn’t sit right with me.

The visuals were okay, as was everything else about this movie. I wasn’t particularly impressed by the post credit scenes, so I don’t really have anything to say on that end.

My rating when I left the theater at first was 4 stars, but I took it down to 3 as I thought about it more. I’m considering taking it down another half star (and I’ll update if I do), but for now my final rating is 3 out of 5 stars.

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