Coming in with mixed reviews from critics and fans alike, what scarred the sequel of Doctor Strange wasn't the runtime; it wasn't the plotline; it was the unexpected.
Spoilers: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, WandaVision, What If...?, Spider-Man: No Way Home
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness released in theaters this past weekend with hopes soaring from all around the world. In the weeks prior to release, there was some of the deepest speculation surrounding who audiences would meet in this movie, who the true villain would be, and how this would translate to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Come May 6th, reviews were out and they were — sub-par, in terms of Marvel movies in 2022. The CinemaScore rating came out second lowest of the MCU, right next to Eternals, and the Rotten Tomatoes scores are not all that much higher. However, this article is not a review of the movie; it is a deep dive of what went wrong with the movie in terms of the reviews it is receiving, boiled down to one single point: the unexpected. The overarching challenge in the MCU right now is the element of negative surprise, not seen previously in the cinematic universe.
I know, I know — that's vague. Hear me out.
Where Past Entries Led To
Let's start with where things left off in the previous films leading to Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, shall we? The film Doctor Strange introduces a new unrelated character to the MCU. He isn't introduced in Captain America: Civil War with the rest of the bunch, nor is he hinted at, other than one nod in Captain America: Winter Soldier. This character was a relatable, Tony Stark-adjacent personality. He was earthly, smart, and well-calculated, regularly striving to do things more efficiently, but never specifically unethically or in preference of one life over another. Next, we move to WandaVision, fully fleshing out a character deeply embedded in the denial stage of grief after losing Vision. Wanda struggles to cope with this loss by going a little crazy and enslaving a town to live her lost life with Vision and two made-up children of her own. This all comes falling apart when society makes her realize her wrongdoings in this process and she seems to come to her senses, letting them free.
Spider-Man: No Way Home then released developing Doctor Strange quite a bit as the no-longer Sorcerer Supreme. He impulsively creates a spell for Peter Parker, inherently breaking the multiverse wide open as he struggles with his own implied power struggle with Wong, who took the Sorcerer Supreme title from him. This movie opens up to Sony's separate universes from Tobey and Andrew's Spider-Men, alongside, briefly, Tom Hardy's current Venom universe.
What If...?, however, fully introduces the multiverse to the MCU in a quick, orderly, and animated fashion. Fleshing out new and old characters including Captain Carter, Infinity Ultron, Strange Supreme, and more. This entry is seemingly unrelated until we begin to see the trailers for Multiverse of Madness.
Where Trailers Led To
In Strange's own words, "things just got out of hand." Several trailers were released in anticipation of the movie's release. Marvel Studios has a tendency of keeping their movies' plots somewhat ambiguous, giving audiences just enough information to make them interested in seeing what happens, but nothing much more than that usually. This is a method that works really well in most cases, so let's dig into what they give us in the previews for Multiverse of Madness. The first official teaser for this movie came out in December following Spider-Man: No Way Home in a post-credits scene. This immediately implies that it would be in some way connected to this Spider-Man film, even quoting the movie itself. This trailer then goes on to showcase a movie where, presumably, Doctor Strange and Wanda Maximoff fight off against the multiverse's Strange Supreme, seen in What If...?, alongside some new and old allies (America Chavez, and Christine Palmer). Neat. The official trailer for this movie then finally released on February 13, giving audiences almost two whole months to speculate on what will come of this entry. This trailer reinforced the idea that the multiverse opening was caused by Strange's spell in Spider-Man, making it his mess to pick up. Wanda continues to be someone on Strange's side. We get introduced to Ultron bots (presumably from What If...?) before the grand finale of Professor X (presumably from the 20th Century X-Men universe). We also get a peak at a new flying character, speculated to be either a new universe's Captain Marvel or Iron Man. Thereafter, many shorter trailers were released in anticipation. Some notable inclusions would be: Strange and Wong fighting alongside Wanda, a better look at a zombified Strange (presumably from the What If...? universe), a better look at an evil variant of Wanda Maximoff seen to be a villain of the movie, the introduction of the Illuminati, opening up the possibility of many new character introductions, of which they showcased Captain Carter (presumably from her What If...? universe) and Maria Rambeau's Captain Marvel.
Where Audience Speculation Led To
That's a lot of information; let's condense it all. What are fans now anticipating after all of this hype?
Audiences have now seen the partnership between Wanda and Doctor Strange and have speculated on them having to fight their darker selves to get to a happier life— AKA, Wanda in a universe with her kids, and Strange in a universe with Christine. We have reason to believe that Doctor Strange's spell introduced these characters to our universe and that they have to team up to counteract this and get their lives back.
Audiences have now seen the introduction of the Illuminati, including members such as Professor X, Captain Carter, Captain Marvel, and Baron Mordo. Who else could be a part of the Illuminati? The audience speculated that they would see John Krasinski as Mister Fantastic, Anson Mount back as Black Bolt, and maybe Tom Cruise as Iron Man. The MCU could have also seen the introduction of Namor, a Black Panther variant, or the return of X-Men's Beast, alongside a slew of other characters. Due to the nature of their trailer introductions, the audience is under the impression that these characters are from separate universes, come together to form an ultimate multiversal group, not dissimilar to What If...?'s Guardians of the Multiverse.
Digging a bit deeper into the connections introduced, one could assume we would see more upcoming films in the developed X-Men universe, the introduction of the Fantastic Four, and more big groups to come together. They introduce us to the concept of free range in terms of universes, giving them retrospective control over their 20th Century, Netflix, ABC, or Sony counterparts. Audiences could see Deadpool and the X-Force. Audiences could see the impact from the Time Variance Authority and Loki's gang could coincide with this break in the multiverse. Audiences could see the Spider-Men come back, noting that the director of this movie is the same as Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man trilogy. The possibilities were endless.
So, What Happened?
With possibilities abound: The Illuminati, X-Men, Inhumans, Spider-Men, X-Force, Fantastic Four; what did audiences receive? Very little.
See, the challenge with a multiverse movie in the MCU in 2022 is that the stakes are high, and unfortunately, Marvel Studios did not live up to the hype. The few new characters introduced via the Illuminati, being John Krasinski's Mister Fantastic and Anson Mount's Black Bolt, alongside the characters already showcased in the trailer last about five minutes before they're brutally obliterated by the villain— the MCU's Scarlet Witch. What a crushing sentence to have to publish.
On top of this, the characters that were introduced were all from the one respective universe they are introduced into, which means no connection with X-Men, or Inhumans, the upcoming Fantastic Four, or What If...?. Nothing. No past projects, certainly no future projects, and generally little to no purpose even in this film, other than to make audiences excited to see a group of beloved characters just to be killed off in record time.
And they aren't the only characters to be killed off. In the final act of the movie, we see Scarlet Witch crushed beneath the weight of her own temple, by her own doing. Now — this is the MCU — we will see her again, but it could be argued that this movie killed her off regardless. Any positive impact of WandaVision or her lead-up to that was diminished by creating this monster of a character meant for killing. And, for what, kids that aren't hers? That is worth her becoming the darkest villain in the MCU?
Finally, lets dive into the main character of this movie, the one and only Doctor Strange. Previously known as a calm and collected dimension-traveling doctor, working towards making the world a better place with no preference for one person over another; this Doctor Strange is long gone. America Chavez entered the fray, and, for whatever reason, Doctor Strange immediately swears full, and faithful loyalty to her. Her, over his army of sorcerers. Her, over his dear Avenger friends. Her, over his love of a different universe, Christine. Why? What led Steven to act so — Strange?
As uncharacteristic as it is for him to be this way with America, as uncharacteristic as it is for Wanda to be so brutal to innocent characters, as uncharacteristic it is for Marvel Studios to reveal so many of the cameos beforehand to just kill them off in the movie, it is what audiences receive in Multiverse of Madness. That is the single flaw of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: the negatively unexpected. Take a look at Spider-Man: No Way Home. Marvel Studios kept secret the previous Spider-Men and even some of the villains appearing. Take a look at WandaVision. They kept secret that Agatha was the villain the whole time and that White Vision would make a somewhat heroic significant appearance. However, in taking a look at Multiverse of Madness, the only kept secrets would negatively impact the movie. This movie is not connected or caused by No Way Home. Wanda is pure evil. The Illuminati are killed off immediately. There are no other cameos (aside from an end-credit scene). Arguably most importantly, Doctor Strange's character has changed completely to this otherworldly, borderline evil sorcerer. Marvel Studios had the ability to hint at any of these plot points, but they didn't, giving the audience the impression of one thing and giving us something much grittier and much more unfulfilling, and that unfulfilling feeling walking out of the theater is exactly the problem with this movie. Here's to hoping Marvel learns from it.
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