Okay, it’s been a few days since Multiverse of Madness took over theaters across the globe, shocking viewers with its chaotically fascinating storyline that is 100% a Doctor Strange flick directed by Sam Raimi. And since I already shared my thoughts on the film in a spoiler-free review on Thursday night it’s time to share my thoughts on all of those juicy spoilers. So, hang onto your butts, because we’re about to delve deep into spoiler territory.
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
Okay, so let’s talk about Defender Strange. First off, I thought he was very cool, I loved his powers, but boy did I not see it coming that he would turn on America Chavez for practical reasons. That was really interesting and a great jump point to cement the emotional journey Strange would go through in this film as he comes to grips with what kind of hero he is.
The action scene between Strange, Wong, and Gargantos was fun.
The first scene between Doctor Strange and Wanda, while heavily advertised in the marketing, was absolutely fascinating. Especially when we learned that Wanda had gone FULL-VILLAIN mode which was both shocking and totally understandable.
For those who watched WandaVision, the progression wasn’t jarring because it didn’t make any sense. It was jarring because I don’t think anyone expected Marvel Studios to take Wanda’s story in that shocking direction. She entered the MCU as a bit of an anti-hero as she sided with Ultron against The Avengers before eventually joining The Avengers to defeat the genocidal robot. So villainy has always been at the periphery of her story.
She also read the Darkhold, an evil book that literally corrupts anyone who reads it. So, that being said, Marvel Studios’ choice to let Wanda be the primary antagonist in Multiverse of Madness was bold but so cool!
It was a nice twist thankfully brought early in the film to lace the rest of the story with the horror that this surprisingly scary movie required. And boy, was she terrifying!
The Kamar-Taj sequence was delightful and far more horrifying than I was expecting. Seeing Wanda embrace her Scarlet Witch-iness was so exhilarating on the big screen.
I’m not going to beat around the bus any longer. Let’s talk about the Illuminati.
I loved the Illuminati’s inclusion in this movie. Seeing Captain Carter in live-action was exciting, Lashana Lynch was a fantastic Captain Marvel, Patrick Stewart returning as Professor X was special, and then there were the other cameos.
Anson Mount returning as Black Bolt from the canceled Inhumans series on ABC was interesting. I don’t know anything about Black Bolt but that character, for the screentime that he had, was just so, so very cool.
And yes! John Krasinski played Richard Reeds a.k.a Mr. Fantastic and that was very awesome. I really do hope that he will be Mr. Fantastic in the actual Fantastic Four movie because he was absolutely perfect in the role.
Now…let’s talk about their deaths. There are moments in films that you’ll never forget and Wanda’s complete annihilation of the Illuminati was one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen in a film. Sure I’ve watched plenty of R-rated movies that have had far grislier deaths but this is Marvel Studios under the House of Mouse. I did not expect to see the deaths that I did in this film, specifically Professor X.
Professor X is an absolute comic book legend that Patrick Stewart has now portrayed for two decades. To see his neck get snapped in IMAX is something that I still haven’t quite recovered from.
Oh, and Wanda’s performance in this movie was just so good! I mean, there were so many power lines that she got to say in this film. Just…whoa!
The Doctor Strange vs. Sinister Strange music battle was one of the coolest and most inventive things I’ve seen in any movie. I was staring at the screen absolutely enthralled. And Zombie Strange was way cooler than I expected and absolutely stole the show.
All in all, there were some absolutely fantastic and ultra-scary moments in this movie that surprised me in ways I didn’t expect. I’ll definitely have more to talk about when I see the film again this Saturday but overall, this is a movie I’ll be talking and thinking about for a while.
What moments did you enjoy in the movie? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
I thank you for reading and I hope you have a tremendous day.
Annlyel Online 
So… a few thoughts.
– Xavier showing up here means Patrick Stewart probably breaks the tie with Hugh Jackman for that world record for longest career playing a Marvel superhero.
– I liked that (and touched on this in my own writeup), similar to the first movie, the climax of this movie was not based on the hero committing some sort of act of overpowering, out-sneaking, or anything out-actioning the bad guys. They won by making sure that their losing wasn’t the same thing as the villains winning, and putting the villains in a position where, in spite of their hopelessly superior power advantage, pushing forward to victory was no longer possible on terms they were willing to accept.
– Both the heroes and the villains came to the end of the movie on a personal journey that decided the outcome of their struggle. Strange went a long way in the first movie, but as Christine hauntingly reminded him, he still “has to be the one holding the knife.” People confront him over this personal flaw throughout the movie and throughout the multiverse, and eventually he has to learn to let go and let someone else take the knife. (Defender Strange, if that’s what we’re calling him, couldn’t do that.)
– Doctor Strange vs Sinister Strange in a musical battle straight out of Disney’s Fantasia, with the soundtrack playing along, was kinda awesome.
I really liked this one. This, together with Moon Knight’s helpful crash-and-burn in the finale, puts WandaVision pretty cleanly back into second place of the Disney+ miniseries for me.
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I’m going to have to read your review. Glad you liked it.
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