Written by Michael Waldron
Directed by Sam Raimi
Wanda (to Strange): "You break the rules and become a hero. I do the same and I become the enemy. That doesn't seem fair."
Ah, yes, the double standards of what can and can't be done with the laws of magic. Are both Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizbeth Olsen) both in the wrong for their meddling of magic? Well, the obvious answer would be yes and this movie definitely explores the consequences of recent magical decisions the pair have made.
For Wanda, she's been in an exile of sorts since the events of Westview but since the finale of her own Disney+ show she also became the Scarlet Witch and found herself in possession of the Darkhold. That possession hasn't done wonders for her sense of judgement either as she had a singular mission in mind for this movie and anyone unfortunate enough to get in her way didn't stand a chance.
To start Wanda does have a sympathetic motivation in the sense that all she wanted to do was to reunite with her sons, Tommy (Jett Klyne) and Billy (Julian Hilliard) but in order to do, not only did Wanda need to travel to the Multiverse for her goal, but she needed to absorb the power of dimension hopping America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) in order to do so, this putting her in direct conflict with both Strange and the actual, Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) and the more the latter two oppose Wanda, the less reasonable she became as a result.
Seeing Wanda in full villain mode and make no mistake, she's absolutely the villain of the piece was fascinating to see unfold. Elizabeth Olsen definitely didn't hold back as Wanda resorted to every trick in the Darkhold and a creepy temple in order to achieve her goal and if you didn't know this was a Sam Raimi movie beforehand, you definitely did as soon as Wanda started piling the bodies in a bid to get to America Chavez.
A part of me was surprised with how dark Wanda truly went in the movie because while she rightly pointed Strange's hypocrisy, it certainly took until the last minute and thanks to America to truly see the error of her ways. Will we see Wanda again after the events of this movie? I have no doubt but it's certainly going to take a lot to get her back on the lunchbox after her antics in this one.
As for Stephen himself, it wasn't that long ago he had helped cause havoc with the Multiverse himself and here when he wasn't attending the wedding of ex-girlfriend Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), he found himself taking on the tole of protector of America Chavez (someone who hasn't met more than one Strange) and trying to reason with Wanda before trying to track down the antithesis of the Darkhold.
Strange's arrogance was something the movie needed to challenge and it did it here rather nicely. Yes, we had Wanda calling him out on his own hypocrisy as we did with the variants of Christine and Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) but it really the Illuminati scene comprising of variants of Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Reed Richards (John Krasinski), Black Bolt (Anson Mount), Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) and Captain Marvel (Lashanna Lynch)that truly highlighted the dangers of a Strange unchecked.
Benedict Cumberbatch definitely brought his A game to this movie and seeing some of the Strange variants was a delight to behold. With Stephen gaining closure over his failed romance with Christine, bringing about the end of Wanda's reign of terror and mentoring America, this movie covered a lot of needed ground with the character. Not to mention the fact that his own dabbling with the Darkhold will clearly have it's own consequences down the line.
- Being a Sam Raimi movie, of course Bruce Campbell made an appearance as a pizza ball vendor who cam afoul of one of Strange's more pettier of spells. It wore off in the post credit scene.
- The mid credit scene introduced Charlize Theron as Clea while reminding audiences that Strange will be getting a third movie.
- America is the only version with no Multiverse equivalent. We also learned that her mothers were lost when she first used her powers by accident.
- Spider-Man was referenced by Strange and Wong but America had no idea who he was.
- We did briefly get to see Shuma-Growth, but due to a right issue, the character was renamed Gargantos.
- Chronology: Not long after the events of WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness might not have been loaded with the maximum amount of cameos that I think we were all guilty of setting ourselves up for,but at the same time, the ones we got actually worked and the focus on both Stephen and Wanda made the movie all the more better to watch. Both Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen knocked it out of the park here and Sam Raimi gave the MCU a much needed shake up in terms of what can be done with this franchise. I hope this won't be the past time we see his talents here.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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