My Review of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022)

 

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

My Review of Doctor Strange (2016)

Written by Jon Spaihts & Scott Derrickson & C Robert Cargill

Directed by Scott Derrickson

The Ancient One: "Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all."

Dr. Stephen Strange: "Which is?"

The Ancient One: "It's not about you."

Two confessions before we begin this review - 1: both the MCU and DCEU need to go bigger with the magic/supernatural side of things and 2: aside from Sherlock (and now this role), I don't greatly care for Benedict Cumberbatch. I mean I like him, but I'm not greatly fussed about him as an actor. I'm probably going to lose some points for that one, aren't I?

In terms of the two roles that I like Cumberbatch, this one might actually being his best. He might be the most definitive 21st Century of a certain Detective but as a magician of the arts, this is easily his best role for me personally.

The origin is handled simply enough with Cumberbatch playing arrogant neurosurgeon Stephen Strange who finds himself unable to operate as a result of a car crash and even ex-girlfriend and fellow doctor, Christine (Rachel McAdams) isn't able to get Strange out of his depressive funk.

However a trip to Kamar-Taj and meeting up with Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and of course, meeting the Ancient One with some miscasting with Tilda Swinton changes Strange's life for the stranger, if I'm being perfectly honest. Now I like Swinton as an actor, and while I don't like social media pile ons about casting, even I think they should've gone for a different actor for this particular role. She does a decent job but she still feels miscast here.

Getting back to Stephen, he's suddenly found himself with a new magical skill set and it's not long before he soon crosses paths with a former student of the Ancient One, Kaecilius (Mads Mikkkelson). As baddies go, Kaecilius admittedly is a hit and miss first baddie for Strange. There's no denying that Cumberbatch and Mikkelson play off each other brilliantly, but at the same time, despite the cool visuals surrounding their big confrontation, I feel that Kaecilius went out on a whimper, which was a shame. 

However while Kaecilius was slightly hit and miss as a baddie, the movie was more successful in highlighting Mordo's growing disillusionment with the Ancient One as well as the addition of Wong (Benedict Wong) who became an ally of Strange's as the movie progressed. We've seen Wong in later movies but I'm hoping that Mordo will re-emerge in the upcoming sequel. As for Christine, it's a pretty thankless role for the brilliant McAdams. 

- The film was originally going to feature a bit with CERN but was scrapped for being too scientific for a magical based movie.

- Stan Lee's cameo was of a bus driver while Thor popped up in a mid credit sequence. Strange returned the favour by appearing briefly in Thor: Ragnorak.

- Originally Joaquin Phoenix was rumoured for the title role and while he probably would've worked, I think he was wise rejecting the role and taking on Joker years later.

- Chronology: After the events of Captain America: Civil War.

Doctor Strange easily would be a top ten contender for MCU movies for me (just narrowly missing the top five). I love the supernatural and magical side of things and it's great to see the MCU go all in with this debut for Strange and Benedict Cumberbatch really does nail the title role. Issues with the Ancient One and main baddies aside, this definitely is one of the strongest MCU debut solo outings for a main hero.

Rating: 8 out of 10

SDCC 2019 - Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase 4 Announcement (Spoilers Included)

They sat out SDCC last year and this year upon their return, Marvel decided to go big with the announcement of five movies and five streaming shows on upcoming service, Disney+

So, here's a look of what we can actually expect in the next two years from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Black Widow: Due for release on May 1st 2020, this prequel movie will see Scarlett Johansson reprise her role as Natasha Romanov in a movie that is rumoured to be set during the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Joining Johansson here will be David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, O. T. Fagbenle as Rick Mason, Rachel Weisz as Melina/Iron Maiden as well as Ray Winstone in an undisclosed role. The main antagonist for this movie will be Taskmaster. Filming for this movie started in May.

Eternals: Due for released on November 6th 2020, this movie will focus on a space battle between the titular group and their enemies, the Deviants. Rounding off the cast for this movie are Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, the leader of the Eternals, Lia McHugh as Sprite and Don Lee as Gilgamesh. There's still some more casting for this movie to be confirmed but filming will begin in September in London for this one.

Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings: Due for a February 12th 2021 release, this movie had been fast tracked by Kevin Feige since December 2018 and we now know that the title character will be played by Simu Liu with Tony Leung Chiu-wai portraying the Mandarin and Awkwafina also cast in a role in the film. Filming for this movie will take place in Australia within the next few months.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness: Due for a May 7th 2021 release, Benedict Cumberbatch's surgeon turned magical superhero will be getting a second solo outing and this time he'll be backed up by Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch as Nightmare has been confirmed as the main antagonist for this movie. This movie will also be tied into Olsen's upcoming Disney+ series, WandaVision, the latter which will stream prior to this movie's release.

Thor: Love And Thunder: Due for a November 5th 2021 release, I think we were all shocked earlier last week to find out that Chris Hemsworth was getting a fourth solo movie and with director Taika Waititi returning following the success of Thor: Ragnorak, this movie will not only see Thor reunite with Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie as the latter looks for a queen but in a major surprise, Natalie Portman will not only reprise her role as Jane Foster but she'll also be playing Lady Thor for good measure too. Between finally confirming Valkyrie's bisexuality and giving us Lady Thor, this movie isn't messing about.

Elsewhere, there was another surprise announcement of Mahershala Ali being confirmed as Blade for an upcoming movie while sequels for Black Panther, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Captain Marvel were confirmed with hints of mutants eventually making it into the main cinematic movies. However the fourth phase will seemingly be about the five above movies I mentioned and five upcoming television series, leading to this bit.

With Disney+ due to debut in the next few months, MCU fans will have a big incentive to watch the five upcoming series they're planning as these series will tie into the main cinematic universe in a fairly big way. First up will be The Falcon And The Winter Soldier with both Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprising their respective roles with Emily VanCamp and Daniel Brühl set to reprise their roles as Sharon Carter and Baron Helmut Zemo from August 2020. Then it'll be WandaVision, focusing on the relationship with Olsen's Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany's Vision while Teyonah Parris will appear as an adult version of Monica Rambeau while Loki will see Tom Hiddleston's mischievous trickster in a post Avengers: Endgame timeline. Both those series will debut in early 2021. After that, we've got What If…?, an animated anthology series with Jeffrey Wright voicing the Watcher and several familiar characters appearing in rather different circumstances, with a mid 2021 date being earmarked for it's release. The last series then will be Hawkeye with Jeremy Renner reprising the title role but also handing it over to Kate Bishop. This show will debut in late 2021.

Meanwhile it's also been confirmed that Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD will end after seven seasons. The show currently into it's sixth season, airing on both ABC and E4 respectively will be the most successful of Marvel live action show in spite of it often being ignored by the MCU itself (although Clark Gregg did recently play Agent Coulson in Captain Marvel). I stopped watching the show a few seasons back but it's incredible that the show lasted as long as it did. I also think that following it's imminent demise, the only Marvel shows we'll be getting for the foreseeable future will be on Disney+

So that's the next two years for the MCU sorted then. What were the most exciting announcements for you? Which movie or streaming shows are you most eager to see? Was there something you wish had been announced but wasn't?