Marvel Doctor Strange

Marvel's 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' catapults Benedict Cumberbatch into a wild ride that has trouble staying its course.

While the Marvel-ness of “Madness” will make your head spin, Raimi’s signature style, penchant for the macabre and sense of humor oddly ground the film. Olsen, who is as essential to making “Madness” work as Cumberbatch is, carries over a lot of her character’s emotional turmoil from “WandaVision.” And Rachel McAdams returns from the first film to play different versions of Strange’s ex Christine Palmer, but at least gets more to do this time around. It’s too bad, because Gomez brings a sassy freshness to the Marvel landscape that meshes nicely with Cumberbatch’s hard-luck hero, and the film loses some of its spark when they’re not joined at the hip.

When you bring Sam Raimi into the Marvel Cinematic Universe you can bet you are going to get something different, and that is definitely the case with his ...

Gomez is a swell find as America. Chiwetel Ejiofor is in for a bit reprising his role of the strait-laced Mordo. and so is Michael Stuhlbarg as Strange’s ex-colleague Dr. Nic West (they have an especially funny scene early on in church). It is especially heartening that so many women, also including the wonderful Sheila Atim, get such a strong showcase in a film like this. Cumberbatch is having some delicious fun this time in several incarnations of Stephen Strange including fighting opposite himself, and this actor makes all of them unquestionably his own, even if Olsen swoops in with such fierce power that she takes total command when she is on screen. She must get America’s abilities in order to get back to her kids – or so she thinks. America becomes target number one for the spellbinding and blinding Scarlet Witch, the evil side of Wanda now trapped in another dimension and looking for her way back to motherhood and two young sons she has visions of in an alternate universe and very different life than the take-no-prisoners existence in which she now uses her extraordinary powers to decimate anyone and anything that gets in her way. When Strange suddenly leaves the wedding of Christine Palmer ( Rachel McAdams returning) in order to fend off a giant octopus creature called Gargantos who is chasing America thru the streets of the city in order to capture her and take her powers for itself, it is just the beginning of a beautiful and complicated relationship. Most notably though is the reunion with Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch played to the hilt by Elizabeth Olsen who steals this film lock, stock, and barrel.

Sam Raimi brings an exuberant horror-movie grisliness to bear on this latest Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure.

If Scott Derrickson, the director of 2016’s “Doctor Strange,” teased out the altered states and Far East mysticism in Steve Ditko and Stan Lee’s original comic books, then Raimi has found in this sequel a surprisingly accommodating vehicle for his ecstatic love of horror filmmaking (to say nothing of a darkly exultant score by Danny Elfman). Raimi’s sheer passion for his material can sometimes overwhelm the coherence of his storytelling, and his unfashionable sincerity doesn’t always mesh with the breezy quip-a-minute tone that is the Marvel enterprise’s preferred comic idiom. (It’s hardly a spoiler to note that it wouldn’t be a Raimi film if his favorite muse, Bruce Campbell, didn’t turn up in a scene or two.) There are also some deliciously pustular visions, including a few zombie- and wraith-like denizens who wouldn’t look out of place in Raimi’s “Evil Dead” movies. (The various alternate universes, including a flower-forward vision of New York, are the standout elements of John Mathieson’s cinematography and Charles Wood’s trip-tastic production design.) Along the way, he also leans on some familiar faces, including his wizardly colleague Wong (the invaluable Benedict Wong); his old frenemy Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor); and an alternate version of Christine who serves as a pesky reminder that love really is the most inescapable force in the multiverse. Building on the stealth emotionalism of her “WandaVision” arc, Olsen does possibly her most impressive work since her stellar debut in the 2011 independent drama “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” in which she also played a woman dangerously susceptible to the pull of mad, malevolent forces. It’s a heartrending vision, the kind that Faustian bargains are made of, and it floods the script’s sometimes inelegant, herky-jerky plotting with unexpected rivers of human feeling.

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" might be the most insanely Marvel movie ever, for good and ill. Unleashing the infinite possibilities of the ...

Overall, "Doctor Strange" proves up to that formidable challenge. At its best, "Multiverse of Madness" bursts with psychedelic energy. Yet the most significant recent touchstones in terms of the storytelling actually hail from Disney+, a sign of how vast and interconnected the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Marvel Studios/rated PG-13/126 minutes. Directed by Sam Raimi, written by Michael Waldron.

You don’t need to have seen Ant-Man to understand Thor: Ragnarök, and you don’t need to have seen Black Panther understand Spider-Man: No Way Home. Nor do you need to have watched WandaVision to smile when Doctor Strange gets into a, uh, music battle, to be startled by the jump scares and be impressed by the tactile visuals on display. Michael Waldron’s screenplay isn’t afraid to let its “not a white guy” characters be flawed, wrong, problematic or ineffectual, and it’s not afraid to dip into some think-piece-friendly tropes for the sake of efficient storytelling. Oh, and folks who were especially invested in Wanda’s “It’s about trauma!” narrative on the Disney+ show (or folks displeased by the notion of a female villain wreaking havoc over their inability to be a mother) will find themselves as annoyed by Multiverse of Madness as Game of Thrones fans who named their daughters Daenerys. Again, by coincidence or design, much of this film seems a response to a fandom that views the MCU as a kind of progressive moral arbiter and/or makes their fandom a defining part of their personality. The rest of the film features Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wong (Benedict Wong) and American Chavez doing their best to hold off a relentless, superpowered murder witch, an adventure that sends them to different universes and occasionally sees them interacting with alternate versions of themselves and/or other established MCU characters. That’s neither compliment nor criticism, but it underlines how Multiverse of Madness is “just a movie.” Multiverse-hopping aside, it’s still a stand-alone adventure with little overall impact on the overall MCU. This Doctor Strange sequel feels like an intentional throwback to when the MCU was just another big-budget Hollywood franchise, one that wasn’t expected to make the world a better place or be the one-stop-shop for blockbuster thrills and/or onscreen representation. It’s a good thing the spectacle delivers, because the story is pretty one-note, and the characters are mostly there for exposition and action sequences. The violence is as brutal and cruel as it’s been since the bad guys in Iron Man led a terrified family into a cave and machine gun-massacred them just offscreen. Yes, the film expects you to be familiar with the events of Doctor Strange and the last two Avengers films, but even explicit references to WandaVision are mostly there for those in the know. The top-secret cameos, which sadly are not Winnie the Pooh or Statler and Waldorf, are mostly confined to a mid-film sequence whereby Strange and Chavez travel to a rather idealistic version of Earth that looks like Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland. I’m guessing this is a version of Earth where Al Gore rightfully won the 2000 presidential election, but this universe’s Stephen Strange is A) dead and B) not exactly anyone’s favorite superhero. Yes, as revealed twenty minutes into the 126-minute picture, the big bad is the Scarlett Witch herself. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a mostly stand-alone horror-fantasy adventure.

The last time Sam Raimi made a comic-book movie, nobody had ever heard of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That film was Spider-Man 3, in 2007, the final ...

Across his many Marvel appearances, Cumberbatch has alternated between playing the know-it-all Strange as a stuffy prig and a more mischievous wisecracker, but Raimi helps him strike the right chord—befuddled, brusque but caring, and struggling to stay just one step ahead of anyone around him. Describing Multiverse of Madness involves writing around so much—even revealing the film’s central villain would be a spoiler, though far more intriguing plot twists are buried in the final act. But once the dimension-hopping kicked off, Raimi’s goofy, morbid sense of humor started to assert itself on-screen, and Multiverse of Madness settled into a far more satisfying rhythm. His camera is a character of its own, with shots that lurch, zoom across rooms, and crash into actors’ faces with anarchic impunity. Multiverse of Madness is overstuffed with the usual fan bait, but it’s also undeniably a Sam Raimi movie, and a remarkably good one at that. It picks up after the last Marvel entry, Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which the prickly super-magician Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) appears, waving his arms around with staccato fury to open portals and alter people’s memories en masse.

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" has director Sam Raimi's signature jump scares and is definitely "darker in tone."

It’s within that unknown that suspense and darkness exists, a tool to titillate the audience’s fear.” Elizabeth Olsen also reprises her role as Scarlet Witch following “WandaVision.” It does feel like watching a Sam Raimi film of old at times.

Tune in on Monday, May 2 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT to watch the event live with the cast and crew of Marvel Studios' newest cinema event.

Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams. The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Tune in to Marvel.com/StrangePremiere or watch below on Monday, May 2, at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT to catch interviews with the cast and crew and more!

The uproar is due to a brief scene referencing The Epoch Times, a media company which opposes the Chinese Communist Party. . Read more at straitstimes.com.

But no matter what it chooses to do, it has almost no impact on China. LOS ANGELES - Superhero movie Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness is facing a backlash in China over a scene in which a newspaper kiosk bears the Chinese characters for The Epoch Times, a media company which opposes the Chinese Communist Party. While there were initially hopes that the Marvel sequel to 2016's Doctor Strange would be released in China, netizens have been up in arms over the blink-and-you-will-miss-it scene from previews of the film, which is currently being reviewed by the Chinese authorities.

Forget 'Doctor Strange' and 'WandaVision,' here's the Marvel movie you really need to brush up on before seeing 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ...

In fact, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness seems to be going for the all-time record number of cameos in a Marvel movie. Peggy Carter may not be perfect, but in the MCU, who is? Recent trailers have given some of those cameos away, and that means more homework for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe looking to brush up before Doctor Strange 2. (It also seemingly confirms Professor X will return with his iconic yellow hoverchair.) That’s right, the MCU movie we’re recommending you watch is none other than Captain America: The First Avenger. And before you ask, no, we’re not expecting Chris Evans to come out of retirement for Doctor Strange 2. The one surprising Marvel movie you need to watch before Doctor Strange 2

'Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness' Presales Outpacing 'Captain Marvel', 'GOTG Vol. 2' & 'Thor: Ragnarok', Heading Toward $150M+ U.S. Opening.

“Fans can’t wait to see what magic director Sam Raimi has in store for them as he delivers an epic spectacle that needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible.” There is the very good chance that the pic will overindex with $175M-$200M, but when a movie this big lands on tracking, it’s hard for even the brightest in box office analytics to target precisely. After the box office feel asleep on the couch this past weekend, Disney/ Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will clang loudly starting Thursday night for what looks to be at least a $150M+ opening stateside.

On top of that is the fact that, while the film is set to introduce a number of new players to the MCU, its nature as a sequel means that it adds to an ...

Maguire's potential inclusion in the film has less to go on than any of the other characters, with reports only saying that he will be involved in some way. But at the very least, they include a couple of key characters that are either confirmed or rumored to be in this upcoming movie. This solo outing doesn't mean that Captain Marvel or any of her companions will find themselves playing a role in the next Doctor Strange solo movie. These films are relevant not only because of Raimi's credits on all four movies, but also in relation to the rumors about Tobey Maguire's return as his version of Peter Parker. While she may not play a big role in the overarching plot of this movie, Captain Marvel gives viewers everything they need to know for when this Variant shows up. They fill in a few blanks about characters and plot devices while also getting fans prepared for some of the rumored characters that may play a role in the upcoming sequel. Doctor Strange 2 comes as one of the most unique solo films in MCU history due to its grand scale and potential for the biggest character count in any non-Avengers outing to date. By the end, he had become one of the most powerful heroes in the entire MCU and was set for an extended run throughout Phase 3 and beyond. Meanwhile, Wanda Maximoff was back on Earth in hiding with Vision. The two are first seen fighting Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive after they stabbed Vision and tried to rip the Mind Stone from his head. Doctor Strange provided the classic origin story for Stephen Strange, a brilliant but exceedingly arrogant neurosurgeon who lost the use of his hands thanks to a brutal car accident. Marvel Studios is approaching the finish line on its first big screen outing of 2022 in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, arguably the biggest solo film in MCU history. Taking the franchise’s use of magic and sorcery to new levels, the Multiverse will be unleashed as multiple universes’ worth of heroes and villains will converge into one story.

Ahead of Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness' red carpet world premiere and critic screenings on Monday night, Marvel Studios took to social media ...

Fans will also be paying attention to Doctor Strange 2's marketing campaign, which has already teased more of Patrick Stewart's Professor X and Hayley Atwell's Captain Carter in the past couple of weeks. Now that Doctor Strange 2 is so close to release, fans are diving deep into past movies to prepare for all the potential characters and stories that could drive this new one forward. Now, to help make this experience the best it can be for everybody, Marvel is taking unprecedented measures to hinder spoilers from spreading to the public over the coming days.

The first reactions to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are in. See what critics and journalists are saying about Sam Raimi's MCU outing.

Check out some early reactions to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness below. Did it have the kind of cheer-out-loud moments we saw in Spider-Man: No Way Home? Does Wanda Maximoff finally catch a damn break? However, reshoots and a filming and release schedule heavily altered by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the release to May 6, 2022.