Currently, and for the last decade-plus, at Marvel “story is king.” Executive Producer and the head of Marvel—Kevin Feige—has always said that ad nauseum. Right below ensuring the stellar storytelling is top-notch has always been casting. As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters, both important Marvel Studios pillars that have defined this company during its tenure are front and center in the sequel to Doctor Strange.
Toss in the fact that the film is helmed by a horror master (Army of Darkness) and superhero expert (Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man trilogy) Sam Raimi and parent company Disney has a massive hit on its hands.
Coming back to the importance of casting, casting directors on the first film—Sarah Finn and Reg Poerscout-Egerton, struck gold by the tapping of two-time Oscar winner Benedict Cumberbatch for the title role. The casting of The Imitation Game and Star Trek Into Darkness star as neurosurgeon Steve Strange is a stroke of ingenious. Now with two films under his wizard’s belt, it is impossible to separate the actor from the role, purely by looking at him. He has embodied the supernatural member of The Avengers several times and each performance has further cemented his brilliance as a thespian and the casting IQ of Poerscout -Egerton and Sarah Finn.
That is especially true in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness due to the nature of the narrative that has him hopping through dimensions (or universes) like the United States jump rope champion. He’s portraying multiple Steve Stranges with some similar and others radically different, i.e., downright evil. The actor handles the challenges with absolute aplomb and further proves that “Oscar winner” will appear before his name sooner than later.
Joining him in the absolute excellence department is Rachel McAdams as the girl that got away, Dr. Christine Palmer. First of all, the Academy Award nominee is given more to do than in the first film and much of it is quite complicated with all the leaping between universes where she is a slightly different character than the one we met merely moments ago—yet there is a common thread that clearly runs through the soul from the opening of Doctor Strange to the closing credits of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. When it comes to getting out of this mess that has exponentially gotten worse as the film progressed, her character is integral to the outcome. McAdams too will be holding an Oscar one day as well… no question. What’s apparent is the Canadian-born thespian appears to be having the time of her life. It’s true what they say. If the cast is having a blast, the viewing public will mirror that excitement.
After the three-time Emmy winner, WandaVision put Elizabeth Olsen in the forefront of the zeitgeist, the inclusion of her witchy woman in the Doctor Strange sequel is not only unquestionably important to the plot, but her appearance in the film raises its bar. Her performance is groundbreaking in its depth and scope. If you think you know Wanda Maximoff by now—with this film serving as the sixth time that Olson has portrayed Scarlet Witch, think again.
Strange commences this journey with a dream that is more nightmare than anything else. It involves a teenage girl with similar powers fighting for her life while Doctor Strange valiantly attempts to save her. Thing is, in the superhero world, dreams aren’t merely dreams. They mean something and it usually lands on the side of premonition. Spoiler-free as The Movie Mensch always is, all we can say is this: someone desperately wants America Chavez’s (Xochitl Gomez) powers and Doctor Strange will not let that happen. Period.
That causes all sorts of ripples through time and serves as a major jeopardy to the multiverse. It could alter life as we know it. Michael Waldron’s script is tight and hole proof. Multiverse or time travel movies are extremely challenging because of all the fact-checking and plot congruency that must occur for it to even have a chance at working. What the mostly TV writer, until this point, has achieved is seismic.
So much so, that he’s been announced as the screenwriter behind Feige’s upcoming Lucasfilm as-yet-untitled Star Wars project. After experiencing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, one can instantly see why. The creative force is strong with this one.
Raimi is the perfect person to be asked by Marvel to step in after Doctor Strange helmer Scott Derrickson exited the project over creative differences. Producers struck gold with Raimi, who has been crafting wickedly original cinema for decades (Evil Dead or Darkman, anyone?). This is his first film directing gig since 2013’s Oz the Great and Powerful and was it ever worth the wait.
There’s a touch that he brings to his films that is unmistakably pure Raimi. Derrickson is a fine director. His work on The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Deliver Us from Evil, and Sinister illustrate that the director can simultaneously meld the supernatural and the super scary. He would have delivered a perfectly fine sequel to his 2016 film.
Sometimes in life, things happen for a reason. We may not know what they are at the time, but looking back on it, it’s hard to imagine there wasn’t film Gods overlooking the world of Doctor Strange. because what Raimi has delivered to audiences is exactly the follow-up to Derrickson’s original that is deserved. It’s uncanny. Keep an eye out for nods to some of his films strewn throughout the Marvel movie! Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is an unadulterated superb addition to Raimi’s movie resume.
It is simply… astounding.
Grade: A