Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) Review

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Multiverse of Madness follows Dr. Strange, who, after encountering a kid who can travel between dimensions, must shield her from the Scarlett Witch, who will stop at nothing to steal her power and be reunited with her kids. 

As someone who wasn’t a huge fan of the first Dr. Strange movie, the difference between that and Multiverse of Madness is night and day. On a creative level alone, there is a reason this movie has proven to be so polarizing to Marvel fans, because I’d say it’s one of the slim few that really goes about breaking the mold artistically. This has Sam Raimi written all over it and, for me, MoM is infinitely better because of this fact, crammed with all sorts of cheesy, ridiculous horror elements that clash perfectly with the epic, multiversal tone this film is trying to present. 

This is also very much a sequel to both the first Dr. Strange, as well as WandaVision, continuing an arc for Wanda that now has her going full on Dark Phoenix and showing just how powerful she is (single-handedly wiping the floor with the Illuminati in mom jeans). Her ‘villainous’ turn (I say that lightly) makes for a hell of a face-off between her and Strange, who must deal with his own temptations of darkness, as the film smartly uses all of the other universes Strange’s to develop our own Stephen in real time. What ensues is a super fast paced and thrilling experience that amazed the eyes as much as it satisfies that deep itch for a superhero-ized Evil Dead, with some super cool cameos to boot. 

We get a stellar cast too, starring Anson Mount, Hayley Atwell, John Krasinski, Patrick Stewart, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Xochitl Gomez, Elizabeth Olsen, and Benedict Cumberbatch. The combined efforts from Cumberbatch, Gomez, and Wong are all fantastic and all go to make Strange a more interesting character in my book, though it’s Olsen’s dark turn here that just thrills to bits, representing everything Strange could be if he simply decided to seek out happiness. 

Multiverse of Madness, directed by Sam Raimi, certainly won’t be for everyone, with a campy horror feel that’s very reminiscent of Raimi’s early work, but for a fan of such a style, this is everything I could’ve asked for and then some, making for an epic sequel for the Sorcerer Supreme. 

9.6/10