Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
The first thing you notice is a distinctive color pallet. So much of the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe feels bleached out and drab; when we see Doctor Strange and America Chavez travelling through time and space in the opening sequence, however, the colors pop like we’re watching the opening of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” or even Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy. Not even Scott Derrickson’s 2016 “Doctor Strange” feels this alive visually, and I love that film like I love few other MCU films. Things only get better from there.
What made our 2016 introduction to the Master of the Mystic Arts resonate so hard for me was how Stephen Strange’s journey from brilliant surgeon to broken man who must repair both body and mind reminded me so much of my own struggles with myself after a hospitalization in 2007. Also in 2007, Raimi rounded out his “Spider-Man” trilogy with a flawed, but emotionally rich story of personal self-destruction, where Peter Parker makes choices that threaten what matters most to him, forcing him to re-calibrate what makes his Spider-Man matter to people, especially himself. The two films have always stood above the rest of the superhero genre for me for these personal reasons, so when Raimi was brought in to replace Derrickson on “Multiverse of Madness,” I could not have been more excited. But, would the inter-connectivity of the MCU dwarf any personal themes and ideas that Raimi wanted to explore?
The opening scene I mentioned between Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) is actually a dream of Strange’s…or is it? We come to learn that dreams are actually reflections of what we are going through across the multiverse, and when Chavez- who can move across the multiverse- comes to Stephen Strange’s Earth, being chased by monsters, with a deceased version of Strange in tow, Strange needs to delve more into studying the multiverse. The only person he feels like he can turn to is Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), whom has isolated herself after the events of “WandaVision.” She is haunted by dreams, as well; namely, dreams of being the mother she was in Westview.
It’s been nine years since Raimi was last in the director’s chair, and while there are times where he and writer Michael Waldron are very much catering to the MCU line of moving the multiverse narrative forward (including some cameos you’d do best to hide from yourself prior to watching the film), this still very much feels of a piece with the director of the Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man” films and the “Evil Dead” trilogy. Raimi and cinematographer John Mathieson build off of Derrickson’s visual pallet while also world-building designs of a few specific multiverses that will excite any film fan who appreciates rich, detailed production design and visual imagination. One of the selling points of the film when it was first announced with Derrickson at the helm was that the “Sinister” and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” filmmaker would be allowed to make a real horror film in the MCU. He parted ways due to the eternally vague “creative differences,” but he was also replaced by probably the only filmmaker whose managed to bring genuine terror and wicked humor to superhero cinema, a la the hospital scene in “Spider-Man 2” (and what I remember of 1990’s “Darkman”). Don’t think the trailers and clips that have been released can prepare you for what Raimi and co. have in mind; he’s in peak form in particular near the end- you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Onto the big question- was Raimi able to explore personal themes in this film while also moving the main narrative of the MCU forward? It’s not always clear, but yes, he is. One of the first things he does is show Strange going to Christine Palmer’s (Rachel McAdams) wedding. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t drive their arcs during the film, but Strange and Palmer’s relationship, and why they don’t have one, informs much of Strange’s emotional journey in the film. Christine is intuitive about who Stephen is at his core, and is very blunt about why it wouldn’t have worked between them. As we see him go through the multiverse, that failed relationship with Palmer informs everything, and what he learns about himself when learning about other versions of himself across the multiverse. If the first film was about breaking him physically to build him back up mentally, and emotionally, this film is about showing him the reflection of his arrogance, and what can happen if his need to be right gets in the way of what is right. It’s a compelling arc, and hopefully, we’ll see who he is on the other side of it down the road.
The counterpoint to Strange here is Wanda. That she has ended up ostracized for what she’s done- not without reason- while he has been praised makes for an interesting duality in theme to explore. But really, Wanda here isn’t just the reaction to what happened in Westview- her parents dying in Sokovia, her brother dying, having to kill Vision to try and protect the Mind Stone after Strange had to give up the Time Stone to Thanos, everything has infused her with a sense of isolation that only the children her other selves have across the multiverse can cure. But dark thoughts can lead someone down a destructive path they can’t stop going down. Olsen is terrific in the role, bringing the pain and sorrow the character has felt to bare in every scene. This might be the best version of the Dark Phoenix arc we’ve gotten on-screen, and it’s not even the official one. It’ll do, for now, and this was absolutely the character to do it with.
I think Derrickson’s film will remain the one that means more to me because of its laser-focus on theme and character, but Raimi has delivered a barnburner of a sequel, and I haven’t even brought up Gomez (who makes a great addition to the world), Benedict Wong (#TeamWong), Danny Elfman’s score (which is not only a great continuation of Michael Giacchino’s ideas but a definitively Elfman effort), and so much more. That’s for another time, though. For now, I can’t wait to see this one again, and what is next for not just the Master of the Mystic Arts, but Raimi, who returns to the superhero genre with gusto and enjoyment.
