Since Robert Downey Jr bowed out of the Marvel Universe in Endgame, Marvel hasn’t had a central fan-favorite character to build around (Spider-Man notwithstanding, as he is still owned by Sony, and who knows his future inside the shared playground). (By the way, it could be argued that Marvel doesn’t need or want a centerpiece; it’s hard to argue against the dollars these films are pulling in without one.) Benedict Cumberbatch is obviously a big movie star, so could Dr Strange be the next central figure in Marvel’s plans?
Despite showing up in the last Spider-Man film, Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is less a sequel to that film, and more a followup to Disney+’s series WandaVision, though it is not required viewing to know exactly what is going on. With the loss of her magic-produced family at the end of that show, Wanda Maximoff, now going by the Scarlett Witch, is determined to bring her kids back to life. To that end, she is hunting a teen girl named America Chavez, who is the only person in all of the multiverse who has the power to jump between universes. With this power, Wanda can go to a universe where her kids are real, and try to live happily ever after.
Dr Strange is there to stop her. Wanda has lost all reason and is willing to kill anyone who gets in her way. When Strange tries to protect Chavez at the sorcerer’s retreat of Kamar-Taj, Wanda attacks that place and kills many of its inhabitants. With nowhere else on Earth to run, Strange and Chavez jump to a new universe, in search of a powerful spell book, the Book of Visconti, which hopefully will give them the edge they need to defeat the nearly-all-powerful Scarlet Witch.
There are some great fan moments in this film, not the least of which is some fantastic cameos in the second universe Strange and Chavez find themselves in. Though the movie does bog down a bit with a lot of explanation, the action scenes are top notch, and the finale is supremely satisfying. Maybe not the best Marvel movie, but it’s a whole lot of fun. With the multiverse now firmly ensconced in the the MCU, it opens up lots of doors for future standalone films too. ★★★★½
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