![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness
Back from the cinema and on the whole I enjoyed that a lot! Very much a Sam Raimi movie (complete with the undead and a Bruce Campbell cameo) and easily one of the most visually stunning MCU films. Proud of the work those people over at Film Victoria have been doing on all those effects.
I've seen several mainstream reviews complaining that it was confusing, which, on the one hand: yes, unless you've seen a significant number of the previous twenty-seven (!) films and also WandaVision I imagine it's quite baffling. On the other hand, nobody expects to pick up a book and open it to page 427 and not be confused, and Disney+ exists so anyone coming in late can catch up.
Criticism first: I thought America Chavez could have done with more character development, to the point where I wonder if there was some that ended up on the cutting room floor. Especially since Rintrah is just hanging out at Kamar-Taj with absolutely no exposition about why one of the students is a green Minotaur. Nice Easter egg for us comics fans, sure, but I feel like you don't get a green Minotaur through the script stage unless there's some kind of explanation for him.
My other, completely petty complaint: dear MCU writers, stop referring to the mainline MCU as 616! This is the second time they've done it, and it's just irritating. Everyone who knows the number and notices the reference is just annoyed that you keep getting it wrong, and nobody else cares. Real nerds know this is Earth-199999.
Apart from that, though, everything worked for me. I gather some people didn't like Wanda being the villain, but given that we also see more than one evil version of Stephen Strange and the Darkhold even corrupts our version to some extent, and given that she's the one who stops herself in the end, I didn't mind this turn of events. I am curious about whether Elizabeth Olsen is contracted for any more MCU stuff going forward. (Sure, a mountain fell on this version of Wanda, but we didn't see a body and also we know there's plenty of other Wandas out there. America is presumably going to have to punch a hole in one universe or another to acquire her Young Avengers team-mates Billy and Tommy anyway ...)
Strange himself spends most of the film either running somewhere or moping about his ex, but he at least gets some character development when he realises he can trust America to manage her own power instead of taking it from her. And boy, this movie was a gift for Wong fans and for Wong/Strange shippers in particular. (At least we don't have to go through this alone, indeed.)
But, never mind the actual plot, let's get to the actual the most important part of this film, i.e. five more minutes of Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier! I didn't think we'd see him play the part again after Logan so I am sincerely delighted to have a cameo where he turns out to be the MVP of his whole universe. I love that he not only realises they have to trust this version of Strange, he doesn't even bother to stay around and try to talk Mordo into releasing him. Charles might not have met this version before, but he's met a version of Strange and can tell that the magic-blocking handcuffs are not going to be a real problem for him. His time is better employed explaining what's even happening to his universe's Wanda and buying America and Christine five more minutes. A noble if brutal death!
I am intrigued by Earth-838, which has both intriguing similarities to the MCU and some interesting differences. Clearly this is another timeline where Peggy got the serum, but seemingly also one where the Kree ended up with Maria instead of Carol. (Poor Monica of Earth-838. I guess many versions of her are doomed to lose their mother and not even get to be there for it.) Reed Richards and Blackbolt are prominent superheroes, a thing which could have happened in the MCU even though it hasn't (yet, in Reed's case.) They have a lot of Ultrons, but no Tony Stark is in evidence, suggesting that either he was built by someone else (Hank Pym, like on Earth-616?) or perhaps that Tony is dead. (I find it hard to imagine a version of Tony who built a bunch of Ultrons but also stayed out of the Illuminati.) I think it's very telling that Wanda picked a universe where Billy and Tommy are alive and well but Vision seemingly isn't to decamp to. I'm sure she knows perfectly well that he would never let her get do all of this in a million years, and that he's the only person (other than herself, as it turns out) that could talk her out of it.
But also: mutants! Or, rather, at least one person who is probably a mutant! We are left none the wiser about the existence of any others, although the fact that Charles is not even slightly surprised that Wanda just slaughtered 60% of his team without breaking a sweat makes me wonder if Dark Phoenix happened at some point. That would certainly have taught him to stay calm and make a plan while angry redheads are flexing their phenomenal cosmic powers to murder his co-workers.
We're still left absolutely none the wiser about how and when mutants are going to be revealed back on Earth-199999. I do wonder if it's going to have something to do with the multiverse incursion that is presumably going to be the subject of Doctor Strange 3. (At least, it seems unlikely to be dealt with in any other announced project. I don't think Blade has time to fix a multiversal incursion while killing suckheads.)
Speaking of which: I was of course the person who danced and obnoxiously yelled 'CLEA!!!' during the mid-credits scene. I'd heard rumours of her appearing in this ages ago, and also of Charlize Theron being cast in some MCU roll, so I'm glad both things turned out to be true in this incredible combination. I am already impatient for the action figure even though we're probably going to have to wait until the sequel :(. At least they finally made Wong so my Doctor Strange doesn't have to be on the shelf alone.
I've seen several mainstream reviews complaining that it was confusing, which, on the one hand: yes, unless you've seen a significant number of the previous twenty-seven (!) films and also WandaVision I imagine it's quite baffling. On the other hand, nobody expects to pick up a book and open it to page 427 and not be confused, and Disney+ exists so anyone coming in late can catch up.
Criticism first: I thought America Chavez could have done with more character development, to the point where I wonder if there was some that ended up on the cutting room floor. Especially since Rintrah is just hanging out at Kamar-Taj with absolutely no exposition about why one of the students is a green Minotaur. Nice Easter egg for us comics fans, sure, but I feel like you don't get a green Minotaur through the script stage unless there's some kind of explanation for him.
My other, completely petty complaint: dear MCU writers, stop referring to the mainline MCU as 616! This is the second time they've done it, and it's just irritating. Everyone who knows the number and notices the reference is just annoyed that you keep getting it wrong, and nobody else cares. Real nerds know this is Earth-199999.
Apart from that, though, everything worked for me. I gather some people didn't like Wanda being the villain, but given that we also see more than one evil version of Stephen Strange and the Darkhold even corrupts our version to some extent, and given that she's the one who stops herself in the end, I didn't mind this turn of events. I am curious about whether Elizabeth Olsen is contracted for any more MCU stuff going forward. (Sure, a mountain fell on this version of Wanda, but we didn't see a body and also we know there's plenty of other Wandas out there. America is presumably going to have to punch a hole in one universe or another to acquire her Young Avengers team-mates Billy and Tommy anyway ...)
Strange himself spends most of the film either running somewhere or moping about his ex, but he at least gets some character development when he realises he can trust America to manage her own power instead of taking it from her. And boy, this movie was a gift for Wong fans and for Wong/Strange shippers in particular. (At least we don't have to go through this alone, indeed.)
But, never mind the actual plot, let's get to the actual the most important part of this film, i.e. five more minutes of Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier! I didn't think we'd see him play the part again after Logan so I am sincerely delighted to have a cameo where he turns out to be the MVP of his whole universe. I love that he not only realises they have to trust this version of Strange, he doesn't even bother to stay around and try to talk Mordo into releasing him. Charles might not have met this version before, but he's met a version of Strange and can tell that the magic-blocking handcuffs are not going to be a real problem for him. His time is better employed explaining what's even happening to his universe's Wanda and buying America and Christine five more minutes. A noble if brutal death!
I am intrigued by Earth-838, which has both intriguing similarities to the MCU and some interesting differences. Clearly this is another timeline where Peggy got the serum, but seemingly also one where the Kree ended up with Maria instead of Carol. (Poor Monica of Earth-838. I guess many versions of her are doomed to lose their mother and not even get to be there for it.) Reed Richards and Blackbolt are prominent superheroes, a thing which could have happened in the MCU even though it hasn't (yet, in Reed's case.) They have a lot of Ultrons, but no Tony Stark is in evidence, suggesting that either he was built by someone else (Hank Pym, like on Earth-616?) or perhaps that Tony is dead. (I find it hard to imagine a version of Tony who built a bunch of Ultrons but also stayed out of the Illuminati.) I think it's very telling that Wanda picked a universe where Billy and Tommy are alive and well but Vision seemingly isn't to decamp to. I'm sure she knows perfectly well that he would never let her get do all of this in a million years, and that he's the only person (other than herself, as it turns out) that could talk her out of it.
But also: mutants! Or, rather, at least one person who is probably a mutant! We are left none the wiser about the existence of any others, although the fact that Charles is not even slightly surprised that Wanda just slaughtered 60% of his team without breaking a sweat makes me wonder if Dark Phoenix happened at some point. That would certainly have taught him to stay calm and make a plan while angry redheads are flexing their phenomenal cosmic powers to murder his co-workers.
We're still left absolutely none the wiser about how and when mutants are going to be revealed back on Earth-199999. I do wonder if it's going to have something to do with the multiverse incursion that is presumably going to be the subject of Doctor Strange 3. (At least, it seems unlikely to be dealt with in any other announced project. I don't think Blade has time to fix a multiversal incursion while killing suckheads.)
Speaking of which: I was of course the person who danced and obnoxiously yelled 'CLEA!!!' during the mid-credits scene. I'd heard rumours of her appearing in this ages ago, and also of Charlize Theron being cast in some MCU roll, so I'm glad both things turned out to be true in this incredible combination. I am already impatient for the action figure even though we're probably going to have to wait until the sequel :(. At least they finally made Wong so my Doctor Strange doesn't have to be on the shelf alone.