I have been asking myself one question since watching Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - was the multiverse really that mad?
This Doctor Strange sequel has been one of the most highly-anticipated films of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Marvel fans across the globe have spent the last year speculating what ‘madness’ was about to be shown on our screens.
Outrageous theories spread quickly, with both the recent return of Loki in his own Disney+ series and the three spider-men being popular with audiences. I tried to avoid any rumours, but I eventually caved into reading fan theories and I really thought this film was going to be the film of the century.
Regrettably, it did not live up to my expectations.
Now, do I think it is a bad film? No. Was the storyline actually bad? Again, no. In fact, the film itself was quite good! The visuals were of course spectacular and the ‘villain’ of the film was a standout. If I had to be honest, I just think the film didn't live up to the name.
Ever since the multiverse concept was introduced to the MCU, we’ve learnt that anything is possible. To call this film 'the multiverse of madness’ is a crazy claim as I expected a crazy film. I wanted to see spider-man. I wanted Loki back. Hell, I even wanted to see Iron man but instead, we got the most pointless crossover I have ever seen.
But before I talk about what was missing from the film, let me talk about what went well.
The decision to make Wanda Maximoff the villain of the film was probably its biggest saving grace. Elizabeth Olsen's acting was tear-jerking and her storyline was both developed and thought-provoking. It was perfectly set up from WandaVision and you couldn’t help but sympathise with her even though she was undoubtedly in the wrong.
There's just something so interesting about seeing a character you once rooted for so much now turning to the ‘dark’ side. She was incredibly powerful in the film and finally lived up to her comic-book status as one of the strongest characters in the MCU. The romance storyline was also enjoyable and it was nice to see Christine (Rachel McAdams) return to the franchise again, as she was originally a pretty minor character.
Seeing Peggy carter return to the MCU, as well as both the Fantastic Four and X-men, could have been iconic. The new ‘Illuminati’ crossover that was built between them actually had the potential to be something really interesting and it could have definitely developed into something new.
Instead, they were killed off almost immediately during their first battle. I understand they wanted to show that Wanda's powers are untouchable, but it felt really rushed and it was just a disappointing scene. Why bring a group that powerful in, just to remove them straight away? There was no character development from them and to be honest they brought nothing to the movie apart from the iconic ‘I could do this all day’ line.
America Chavez, the new protagonist in the film, was pretty much just a cringe-worthy character introduced to push the story along, with no emotional depth whatsoever. She made the film kind of awkward to watch and I really didn't enjoy her scenes. I did, however, enjoy what her powers brought to the film and it was refreshing to see a character with a new plot that we’ve never seen.
As I said earlier, the film wasn't badly made, nor the storyline badly written. I actually enjoyed the film when I watched it, but it is probably towards the bottom end of the phase 4 Marvel films. I do however think it has the potential to set up some brilliant films which will follow what was alluded to in the post-credit scenes.
I do wonder if the reason I didn't love the film as much was because it didn't live up to the rumours, or because it actually wasn't that good.
Edited by Hannah Youds