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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

2022, Action/Adventure, 2h 6m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness labors under the weight of the sprawling MCU, but Sam Raimi's distinctive direction casts an entertaining spell. Read critic reviews

Audience Says

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness delivers all the action and visual excitement you want in a Marvel movie while taking the franchise in a much darker direction. Read audience reviews

Where to watch doctor strange in the multiverse of madness.

Watch Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with a subscription on Disney+, rent on Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV.

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Doctor strange in the multiverse of madness videos, doctor strange in the multiverse of madness photos.

In Marvel Studios' "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.

Rating: PG-13 (Frightening Images|Action|Intense Sequences of Violence|Some Language)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Horror

Original Language: English

Director: Sam Raimi

Producer: Kevin Feige

Writer: Michael Waldron

Release Date (Theaters): May 6, 2022 wide

Release Date (Streaming): Jun 22, 2022

Box Office (Gross USA): $411.3M

Runtime: 2h 6m

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Production Co: Marvel Studios

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Atmos

Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

View the collection: Marvel Cinematic Universe

Cast & Crew

Benedict Cumberbatch

Doctor Stephen Strange

Elizabeth Olsen

Wanda Maximoff, The Scarlet Witch

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Baron Mordo

Rachel McAdams

Dr. Christine Palmer

Benedict Wong

Xochitl Gómez

America Chavez

Michael Stuhlbarg

Dr. Nic West

Patrick Stewart

Professor Charles Xavier

Michael Waldron

Screenwriter

Kevin Feige

Victoria Alonso

Executive Producer

Eric Hauserman Carroll

Jamie Christopher

Louis D'Esposito

Scott Derrickson

John Mathieson

Cinematographer

Bob Murawski

Film Editing

Danny Elfman

Original Music

Charles Wood

Production Design

Julian Ashby

Art Director

Set Decoration

Graham Churchyard

Costume Design

Sarah Halley Finn

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Critic Reviews for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Audience reviews for doctor strange in the multiverse of madness.

This movie is a mess, a big sloppy mess, and not in the way people were predicting but in brand new ways no one could have predicted. And yet somehow, it works. I guess that's the magic of Sam Raimi, he makes messes work. He did it with Evil Dead way back when, now he did it with this. And speaking of Evil Dead, holy crap, this is almost a horror movie! I'm not complaining, but damn, the creepy factor is pretty high here! With a unique villain I did not see coming with motivations that are hard to discredit, you almost sympathize until they're literally shredding people to pieces. And obviously the acting and effects are all great, the cameos are a ton of fun, we knew all this would be the case and it all holds true. My only disappointments are I would have liked to see more than a handful of multiverses, but that seems to be what this phase of Marvel is building towards as a whole anyway, and the directing is solid but could have been a little more succinct. Overall though, Doctor Strange 2 (has it really only been 2?) is a ton of fun.

Multiverse of Madness is a visual fiesta that doesn't pull any punches in the visual effects department and is surely on par with the biggest Marvel titles in that regard. However the human elements are more than often contrived and the personal stories all feel forced. Yet the driving conflict in the plot is through the questionable motives of a young mother. So I'm sitting here wondering how the maternal drama of a grieving Wanda could work so well in a TV series but come off so incredibly benign and unconvincing in this film, every scene with her kids had my eyes rolling at the inauthenticity. Why Stephen's unrequited love subplot was so incredibly boring and void of chemistry (or why it sidelined the much more interesting character story of a powerful pragmatic man who struggles with choices of morality on an occasional grand scale) Many moments in the film just felt oddly… unrefined. Then the credits rolled and it clicked with me, it was directed by Sam Raimi. Raimi's directorial sensibilities are dated, juvenile and frankly the man has no place directing a modern Marvel film. Occasionally scenes cause raised eyebrows and unintended laughs, half the time I was wondering if I was watching an 80's horror (Evil Dead) while others harkened to some really tacky looking visuals (Spider-man 1-3) or just straight up amateurish scenes where expository devices are cheaply thrown in to give characters prescribed depth (What were those invasive memory machines on the street, hahaha) I think the lack of finesse really squandered a lot of pivotal moments in Multiverse of Madness, it's not supposed to feel gaudy and dumb… that's not the strengths of what Doctor Strange established. There was a sophistication to "magic" from the first film that Raimi's style inadvertently undoes, the clever charm and reverence for the superhero genre created by previous Marvel titles is under attack here and that more than anything is the key issue for me. MoM sure plays the part of a giant action adventure blockbuster, but with so many ups and downs interweaving in what I feel is a directorial mess it's hard for me to straight up recommend to anyone.

I very much enjoyed the first Doctor Strange film and thought his character has made a nice progression thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, I was slightly concerned about this film being able to stand on its own. Now here's the thing, it doesn't, but I still thought it was great. In fact, I think it's an even more entertaining film than the first Doctor Strange. I would even go as far as saying it would be in my conversation of the better Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Here's why, as long as you're caught up on the connected properties, this one is more than worth your time. Picking up after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home and WandaVision, both of which laid the groundwork for how the multiverse is talked about in this film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness takes no time at all before it dives right into the action/madness. If for nothing else, I loved the pace. The film spends just enough time in the first few minutes to establish where relations are with other characters from the first Doctor Strange, but very quickly sets up how and why the multiverse is the mainline throughout the film. Without giving anything away, the reason the multiverse becomes the main plot is due to the character of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). Her presence here was electric and I couldn't get enough of it, but I can't go into any details without ruining her story here. With the introduction of a new character in America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) very early on in the film, it becomes clear that she will be a staple in future films for sure. I'm okay with that because her performance here, along with her arc throughout the film, was all engaging to me. Her abilities and how she has them needs to be explored a little further in the future, but she was a very interesting character. Her interactions with Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) throughout the film were great as well. They share some great chemistry together. With all of that said, let's dive into a couple of minor issues I think some fans may have. There has been a lot of hype surrounding big cameos and appearances from familiar faces, and while there is definitely a small chunk of the film dedicated to just that, I can see why people are saying this film was overhyped. Personally, I didn't know too much going into it, so I was very surprised by a couple of appearances. Still, where I feel people will be disappointed is in the fact that the multiverse itself remains focused solely on Wanda and Strange throughout the entire film. A lot more could've been explored, but I found that holding back made for a better overall film. There are some fun cameos for sure, but I think they went as far as they needed to. This film benefitted from not being bogged down by needless multiverse stuff. Plus, I believe this is still just the beginning of what kind of wacky adventures are coming in the next few films. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness didn't blow my mind in ways I was thinking it would, but it was also much more of a focussed story and used the fun cameos for a purpose in a way I wasn't expecting either. This film was great in my opinion. Yes, you do need to see a few other Marvel Cinematic Universe entries to fully enjoy everything on display here, but it's worth it. I just had a blast with it from start to finish. Sam Raimi, who directed this film, has his vision on full display here and being a fan of his work for many years, that put a smile on my face. There are a few thrilling scenes that border on a bit of horror and that was also nice to see. Although other films/series have delved into the multiverse already, this film felt like a breath of fresh air for the franchise. It's not perfect and I have some nitpicks with certain things, but I loved watching it.

It makes very little sense but at least it is only two hours long and 1/3 of a Sam Raimi movie is better than no Sam Raimi movie.

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‘doctor strange in the multiverse of madness’: film review.

Sam Raimi returns to comic-book movies with a parallel-dimensions Doctor Strange adventure.

By John DeFore

John DeFore

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On left: Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange in Marvel Studios' DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS.

Longtime Sam Raimi fans may be deflated by an early scene in his return to superhero films, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . When every sorcerer in the Himalayan hideout of Kamar-Taj takes up arms against the planet’s most powerful threat, a vast, billowing stormcloud would seem to herald a battle with plenty of room for Army of Darkness -style mayhem. But instead of Harryhausen skeletons and whiplash camera moves, we get the usual “my magic CGI rays are stronger than your magic CGI rays” business, albeit with a bit of mind-control thrown in.

Don’t despair yet: The director will show flashes of his distinctive style in the very next sequence, and by the end, Madness will become the first Marvel adventure in which a rotting corpse rises to fight alongside the good guys and a swarm of inky demons assembles like a hellish Voltron. Cameras tilt and reflections do scary things. (Yeah, the littlest True Believers should sit this one out.)

Full credits

Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Production company: Marvel Studios Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg Director: Sam Raimi Screenwriter: Michael Waldron Producer: Kevin Feige Executive Producers: Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Eric Hauserman Carroll, Scott Derrickson, Jamie Christopher Director of photography: John Mathieson Production designer: Charles Wood Costume designer: Graham Churchyard Editors: Bob Murawski, Tia Nolan Composer: Danny Elfman Casting director: Sarah Halley Finn

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On the surface, “Doctor Strange” pushes the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a bold new direction. By eschewing the usual stories of technologically-gifted playboys and noble super soldiers for a world ruled by magic, “Doctor Strange” feels fresh. It crackles with energy, moving from one plot point to the next, not wasting any moment. This was also the first time I ever noticed the musical score on my first viewing of a Marvel film—it doesn’t create an iconic theme for its hero but imbues the film with the appropriate mood. The visuals are electrifying and CGI is used very well to build a world far different than anything else we’ve seen in superhero adaptations recently. But for all of its wondrous world-building and trippy effects, “Doctor Strange” isn’t the evolutionary step forward for Marvel that it needs to be storytelling-wise. Underneath all of its improvements, the core narrative is something we’ve seen countless times.

Doctor Stephen Strange ( Benedict Cumberbatch ) is a genius, rich neurosurgeon with an ego that could rival Tony Stark’s. He moves through the world with little regard for the people around him. After being distracted looking at medical documents while driving (he may be smart but his ego makes him think he’s invulnerable), Strange gets into a brutal car accident that wrecks his hands. His scarred, trembling hands are a constant reminder of the man he once was and never will be again. This doesn’t make Strange rethink the way he lives. Instead, as one surgery after another fails, he becomes crueler and more withdrawn, even lashing out at ex-lover/co-worker Christine Palmer ( Rachel McAdams ), who is the last person on whom he can depend; his world of medicine and science has failed him. But after receiving a tip from Jonathon Pangborn (a charismatic, underutilized Benjamin Bratt ), Strange finds himself under the tutelage of The Ancient One ( Tilda Swinton ) in Nepal, who opens him up to worlds he never believed existed. The visual landscape of their first encounter is the film at its most daring. We’re privy to worlds full of neon purples, cerulean blues and blood reds. We watch Strange become enveloped by hundreds of hands as if out of a nightmare. He bounces between dimensions that resemble the dark beauty of outer space to those that are a kaleidoscope of colors. Even a man as arrogant as Strange can’t deny what he’s been shown.

Strange may be a character that hews too close to the model of rich, egotistical white men with which superhero films are obsessed. But the film had the opportunity to do something different, by showing the interior of a character forced to rethink everything he knows and the nature of reality itself. Instead, "Doctor Strange" falls into some significant narrative mistakes.

One of the most glaring sins of “Doctor Strange” is how quickly Strange masters magic. There isn’t much tension in his arc. While he struggles briefly at first to keep up with other students The Ancient One has taken under her care, he’s soon stealing sacred books out from under Wong ( Benedict Wong ), the sharp-eyed master who protects the texts at The Ancient One’s behest. Strange plays by his own rules, growing far beyond the skills of those around him. He even goes as far as bending time, secretly reading from forbidden texts and wielding the Eye of Agamotto. When Karl Mordo ( Chiwetel Ejiofor ) remarks that Strange seems destined for this, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Of course he was.

In effect, Strange is proven right. Who cares about rules and breaking the laws of nature when you’re actually right, and in turn you save the world? Strange never grows much as a character since he proves to be right about far too much, justifying his ego and rank arrogance. Cumberbatch is having considerable fun with the role (although he brings nothing unexpected) but he can’t distract from how nothing in Strange’s story feels earned. You also can’t ignore that “Doctor Strange” is essentially the story of a white man who travels to an “exotic” land, whose culture and people he doesn’t respect let alone know the language of. Yet somehow he just happens to realize he’s a natural at magic and gets good enough to beat practitioners who have been doing this for years.

In this way, “Doctor Strange” reveals the precarious place in which superhero films find themselves. Director Scott Derrickson and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige have repeatedly defended this movie's controversial casting. They’re very aware of the increasing expectation of audiences. But it isn’t enough to cast actors like Benedict Wong and Chiwetel Ejiofor in supporting roles, you have to give them something interesting to do. And as fun and light as “Doctor Strange” is, it is impossible to ignore the problems inherent in casting Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One.

Swinton inhabits the sorceress with her trademark oddity and cutting humor. It takes only a careful tilt of her head or blithe remark to Strange to believe this woman has lived for hundreds of years. In many ways, Swinton’s presence seems to be from another film entirely—one that would truly embrace the weirdness of the premise beyond some trippy visual effects.

Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill have spoken at length about the decision to cast Swinton in a role that was originally a Tibetan man in the comics. They feared casting an Asian man or even woman would mean the character would fall into well-worn stereotypes. So, they whitewashed the role. If the only way you can bypass these issues is to whitewash the part (yet keep the Asian setting and vague mysticism), the problem isn’t the character, it’s your lack of imagination as a creator. The filmmakers behind “Doctor Strange” may be well-intentioned but that doesn’t soften the racism threading the movie. Despite the desire to be inventive, “Doctor Strange” unfortunately repeats many of the mistakes of its predecessors beyond uncomfortable racial politics.

There are many great actors that color the film's margins, but “Doctor Strange” doesn’t make the best use of them. Rachel McAdams plays one of the most poorly written superhero love interests I think I’ve ever seen. She has a warm, flirtatious energy that is a welcome addition to the movie. But she isn’t a person so much as a convenient prop forgotten about for long stretches until Strange needs her.

"Doctor Strange'"s worst sin in terms of casting comes in its villain. At this point, has any major franchise wasted as many great actors in thinly-written villain roles as the MCU? Mads Mikkelsen is an amazing actor who often creates an alluring mix of darkness, pathos and passion. His unsettling screen presence is perfect for this kind of story. But Kaecilius, a former pupil of The Ancient One, has such muddled motivations and little interiority that Mikkelsen is surprisingly forgettable. Strange’s battle with him ultimately comes down to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Strange doesn’t care about being a hero. The juxtaposition between Kaecilius and Strange is one of the more ill-thought out central conflicts from a blockbuster in a long time. They aren’t battling because of opposing ideologies or deep emotional history. They’re simply an inconvenience to each other. If anything, Mordo’s obsession with order would make him a more compelling foil for Kaecilius.

Undoubtedly, the best aspect of the film is its rich visuals. From costume design to CGI to its framing, “Doctor Strange” is a visual feast in ways superhero films rarely are. In the Mirror Dimension, in which the magic of the characters won’t affect people in the real world, the characters cut loose showing off the extent of their abilities. Buildings break apart, fold into each other, reform in ways reminiscent of “ Inception .” Almost every scene bursts with color—crimson, marigold, neon purples, inky blacks. “Doctor Strange” at times takes on the language of video games in ways I’ve never seen before, with its characters being dwarfed by grand, collapsing buildings. The laws of physics are inconsequential here. And after a while the Mirror Dimension feels claustrophobic, a problem that ultimately comes down to the world-building. We get mere sketches of how any of this works. Sure, it’s thrilling to watch. But without understanding the impact of the magic in the Mirror Dimension or the ripple effect of playing with laws of physics it’s hard to feel thrilled, scared or awed after a while. In the end, the beauty and visual effects of “Doctor Strange” are frustratingly weightless.

Even with these considerable faults “Doctor Strange” can also be charming. It’s a spry film brimming with great details, striking imagery and joy. It pushes the MCU into a fascinating world full of magic and villains that exists beyond our understanding of time and reality—maybe next time they’ll do something interesting when they get there.

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Film credits.

Doctor Strange (2016)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action throughout, and an intense crash sequence.

115 minutes

Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange

Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer

Benjamin Bratt as Jonathan Pangborn

Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Karl Mordo

Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius

Benedict Wong as Wong

Michael Stuhlbarg as Dr. Nicodemus West

Scott Derrickson

Writer (comic book)

Steve Ditko
Jon Spaihts
C. Robert Cargill

Cinematographer

Sabrina Plisco
Wyatt Smith
Michael Giacchino

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Review

A sam raimi film for better and for worse..

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters on May 6, 2022. Below is a spoiler-free review.

If there’s one thing Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness accomplishes, it's putting the final nail in the coffin of the idea that directors aren’t allowed to put their distinct stylistic stamps on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Filmmakers like James Gunn, Taika Waititi, and Chloe Zhao all offered their respective MCU movies their quintessential style, of course, but there’s something about this newest chapter that feels like it’s screaming that these films are becoming the rule, not the exception. From top to bottom — and for better and for worse — Multiverse of Madness is a Sam Raimi movie through and through.

MCU detractors will call out an overall same-ness across the respective phases. While that can be true, especially prior to the introduction of more distinct-feeling films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok , it also offers a universal watchability for casual audiences. It’s great for studio pocketbooks, but it doesn’t always make for the most compelling movie-going experience. This is all mostly to say that the newest Doctor Strange outing will, like the rest of the MCU, have its detractors, but you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone critiquing the film because they were bored by it.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - 44 Teaser Images

Director Sam Raimi’s full range of weirdness and spookiness is on full display from start to finish here. Whether it’s through the creatures, Raimi-specific cameos, or just the vibe, fans familiar with his filmography are going to be able to call out plenty of moments bearing Raimi’s signature.

Most times, that signature works. But, between some scenes that are weird for the sake of being weird and others that find themselves hobbled by screenwriter Michael Waldron’s sometimes hokey dialogue, even the biggest of Raimi fans may find themselves quirking an eyebrow from time to time. Still, the movie works far more than it doesn’t.

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The horror element was a big elephant in the room for Multiverse of Madness. Original director Scott Derrickson departed the project because he wasn’t going to be able to make the movie the way he’d pictured it, leading some fans to believe that the newest Doctor Strange outing wouldn’t be as creepy as initially promised. But, by and large, those fears can mostly be put to rest. You’ve already met Zombie Strange in What If (and in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ trailer), but he’s definitely not the only thing that goes bump in the night in the newest addition to the MCU. Plenty of spooky scaries are lurking around corners — especially as things ramp up in the third act. Is it too scary for your kiddo? Your mileage may vary! The horror aspects help earn the PG-13 rating here, but contemplating the idea of half of the known universe suddenly disappearing seems a lot more complicated to stomach than a monster or two!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ success is in no small part thanks to the performances. There’s not a bad actor in the bunch, but Elizabeth Olsen is constantly reminding us how easily she can shift into a capital-a-Actor as Wanda Maximoff. Meanwhile, Xochitl Gomez did an admirable job bringing America Chavez into the MCU and left us hoping to see more of her character in the future, while Rachel McAdams did the best she could with a once again under-utilized Christine Palmer. Of course, Benedict Cumberbatch was great as always. (His American accent is really starting to grow on me, guys. I don’t know what to say.)

And the score, y’all. It’s Danny Elfman, so it’s not really surprising that it ruled. But it freaking ruled. From the notes of respective themes that come in as undertones as characters come into play, to an orchestral tone that follows the whiplash of Raimi’s narrative one, to an actual musical battle (yes, you read that right), it’s an absolute banger of an album that I will be using as writing music for the foreseeable future. Multiverse of Madness is worth the price of admission just to hear the score and see it at work.

Raimi’s first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an imperfect one, to be sure, but it still carries a tone I’d like to see more of as the franchise continues to evolve. The messiness is almost fitting for a Doctor Strange film, though I definitely hope that the script is tighter on the next outing. I won’t spoil anything, but what I can say is that some of the dialogue is on par with the supremely cheesy Moonfall ’s (a comparison that only works for the 15 people that saw Moonfall, but is apt all the same). When you’ve got talents like Olsen, Cumberbatch, and McAdams that can’t even make these lines work, it’s probably time for a revision or two.

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Are there aspects of Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that could be better? Definitely. The script is downright hokey sometimes, and there are odd moments that are weird for the sake of it without adding anything to the overall lore or character development. That said, it’s got a score that’s to die for, some rockin’ performances, and fans will never once be bored!

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness review: The loopiest, bloodiest Marvel movie yet

Turn and face the Strange, one far-out multiverse at a time.

Leah Greenblatt is the critic at large at Entertainment Weekly , covering movies, music, books, and theater. She is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, and has been writing for EW since 2004.

Give Sam Raimi a multiverse, and he will take a mile. The director's Doctor Strange (in theaters May 6) feels like many disparate and often deeply confusing things — comedy, camp horror, maternal drama, sustained fireball — but it is also not like any other Marvel movie that came before it. And 28 films into the franchise, that's a wildly refreshing thing, even as the story careens off in more directions than the Kaiju-sized octo-beast who storms into an early scene, bashing its tentacles through small people and tall buildings like an envoy from some nightmare aquarium.

There are monsters everywhere in The Multiverse of Madness , the first one in a chaotic dream sequence that opens the story without preamble or explanation: All that Benedict Cumberbatch 's dapper, fussy Master of Mystic Arts knows when he wakes up is that he had to battle some glimmering incubus to save a girl, and that he died trying. The girl, it turns out, is named America Chavez ( The Baby-Sitters Club 's Xochitl Gomez), and she calmly sets him straight: It wasn't a dream, it was an alternate universe, which means there are infinite Other Stephens out there, fighting the same fight.

More ex-girlfriends too, though in this world the only one who matters, Christine Palmer ( Rachel McAdams ), is still marrying a man who isn't him. More pressingly, there's an unknown quantity of Wandas ( Elizabeth Olsen ) on the loose, and Wanda wants her children back, even if she conjured them from pure wishful thinking. Because Wanda is also the Scarlet Witch, reluctant supervillain, her whims can destroy worlds — and she's already begun by coming after America, whose universe-hopping abilities are the only thing she believes will reunite her with her two little boys, alive in every dimension but the one she's stuck in.

Whether this all sounds elementary to you or vaguely insane depends heavily, of course, on your familiarity with the MCU; there are no guard rails or lit-up walkways for the uninitiated here. Raimi, who made his name with the Evil Dead series and movies like Darkman and A Simple Plan before helming the first three Spider-Man entries in the early 2000s, freely treats it as license to let his freak flag fly, though it takes him about an hour to ramp up to full pandemonium, maybe because he has so much mythology and green screen to work in. (The number of cameos from the extended cinematic universe that drew gasps and cheers at a preview screening are numerous and worth not spoiling, though the internet is more than happy to correct that for you.)

The script, by Michael Waldron ( Loki , Rick and Morty ) skims over most of what you might traditionally call storyline, frog-hopping hectically across moods and bits of exposition to get to the next explosive set piece. But he does it nimbly too, throwing off one-liners and winks to the genre like flashbangs. Cumberbatch, his body superhero-yoked and his hair streaked with two paintbrush swipes of white at the temples, picks up those bits like little bonbons and rolls them around on his tongue, delighted. Olsen is another kind of movie, often by herself: a wrecked, furious woman from an Ibsen drama, desperate to get back to the things she's lost.

The fact that actors of this caliber — Chewitel Ejioifor , Benedict Wong , Patrick Stewart , and Michael Stuhlbarg also appear, some of them for only a handful of lines — is testament to the sheer gravitational pull of Marvel; you've never seen McAdams tell a bunch of swirling zombie goblins to go back to hell, and you probably never will again. Raimi mostly lets them in on the joke, though he also sends several of them off to spectacularly showy deaths (with many universes come many spares). He generally seems to thrill at throwing out the rule book, zipping giddily between dimensions — one is made of cubes, another bright splashes of paint — and reveling in a kind of squishy, explicit gore that the MCU's bloodless violence often studiously avoids.

In a movie that already contains multitudes, finding a throughline can feel like reaching for a rope swing in the dark; characters are grounded in urgent emotional intimacy one moment, and throwing bolts of CG lightning at demon-octopi the next. Chavez, as the girl the fate of all this relies on, is plucky and smart, but too broadly drawn to really register as her own distinct person rather than a carefully market-tested symbol. (More than once, someone says "We have to save America!" straight-faced.) In many ways, Strange is a mess, and probably 20 minutes too long at two hours (which in Marvel math, is still practically a haiku). It's rarely boring though, down to the last obligatory post-credit scene — whether or not there's method in the Madness . Grade: B

There Is Hell, and Then There Is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The pleasure of director Sam Raimi’s trilogy of Spider-Man films beginning in 2002 can be found in the bombast. Its arch dialogue and visual ecstasy serve to streamline our understanding of the characters, allowing them, as well as the world they inhabit, to feel uniquely real even with its heightened tone. The swooning camerawork elevates sequences like the failed surgery of Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) in Spider-Man 2 — darkness swallows the characters whole, while the cutting sound design of nails scraping against tile leaves you with goosebumps. The body can be a site of horror and power in the superhero genre, an idea that is made lightning bright by a combination of good scripting and the approach actors take to it. But in films as mammoth as these, the latter can only go so far.

In hiring a beloved “auteur” like Raimi to take over the Doctor Strange sequel, Marvel has given the Multiverse of Madness some heft. It has also piqued audience expectations for a familiar blend of pop art and macabre intrigue. These are expectations that aren’t quite met in the latest MCU installment, a truth not so much surprising as it is grimly disappointing. Your career either dies with some integrity or you live long enough for your artistry to be absorbed and nullified by the Marvel machine. And it’s easy to see why Marvel would absorb Raimi, with all his weight and prestige, into its machinery. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is trying for a blend of horror and humor, something close to the heart and terror that Raimi was able to bring to bear throughout his career. But here, his craft has been hemmed in, gamified, leeched of color and vivacity. The plot, as it stands, is held together with bubblegum and a prayer. Doctor Stephen Strange (played with a foot out the door by Benedict Cumberbatch) performs daring feats of sorcery and jumps through a variety of poorly crafted universes with America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), an interdimensional being who can punch holes through universes (if only she could learn how to wield such abilities), in hopes of outmaneuvering the incredibly powerful, and now completely batshit evil, Wanda Maximoff–slash–Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson).

There are moments with intriguing Raimi ideas behind them — when a tentacled beast’s eye is plucked out; when Doctor Strange possesses a corpse in another universe; when a mystical battle involves notes of music alight in the air; when a whole universe turns into a graying graveyard with only a single spark of life. Bodies here and there are left mangled and bloody, and alternate versions of characters we’ve come to know appear throughout. Multiverses have an intrinsically somber quality as they are evidence of the road not taken and the people who we could have been if things were different. But Doctor Strange ’s multiverse is neither emotionally resonant nor artistically agile enough to leave an impression. There’s a sequence in which America and Doctor Strange find themselves traveling through universes at a breakneck speed, each more debilitating than the last. One is underwater. Another transforms them into cartoon characters. In another, they’re garish, living paint. The ideas that hold a gleam of potential are shot down by the film’s rank ugliness, its incessant pace of exposition, the utter slog of the first hour, and the insistence on special effects that render the horrifying as textureless.

I come to Marvel films hoping for something to hold onto, for a wisp of the electric thrill audiences around me feel. Instead, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness left me more disenchanted than ever. How can I not raise my eyebrow at the casting of America Chavez, who has predominantly read as Afro-Latina in comics? How can I not notice that the Zombie Doctor Strange has less frisson than Billy Butcherson’s mangled corpse in Hocus Pocus ? Doctor Strange 2 is too keenly aware fans don’t need much to cheer at these wretched undertakings. These are corporate installments for shareholders rather than, you know, actual films. This is perhaps how we arrive at screenwriter Michael Waldron’s utterly sexist conception of Wanda.

Since the events of WandaVision (which you would need to watch to get what the hell is going on here), the Scarlet Witch has leaned full tilt into her now-villainous persona, eyeing America’s powers as a way to reach a universe where her fake children are actually alive. In this universe, dreams are windows into the lives of our multiversal selves, and for Wanda, her dream involves being a suburban housewife. Without Vision, or any inkling of Wanda’s desires beyond her children, this dream comes across as even more claustrophobic. Apparently Wanda — an immensely powerful witch who can bend reality — only aspires to be a mom. It’s her single, devouring need, and when it’s not met, she loses her mind, leading to death and destruction for everyone around her. Waldron’s story juxtaposes the composed Doctor Strange and Wanda to make evident her inability to control her emotions and her powers. (The characterization harkens back to the discomforting nature of Black Widow, who in Age of Ultron was revealed to have been sterilized . ) Marvel is cunning in how it projects the appearance of meaningful representation in its stories, whether it be the totemic royalty of Black Panther or the glimmer of queer folks in Eternals . If they’re doing white women so dirty, how can the rest of us expect any better?

Olson is saddled with a character so thinly written as a crazy bitch, who can neither control her emotions nor her great powers, that of course her performance is half-hearted and tepid. Cumberbatch is on autopilot beside her. Gomez is given only quips and exposition scenes, turning a character that is meant to be spunky aggressively bland. (I won’t even get into the Illuminati, a group of superheroes in another dimension that is so clearly meant to satisfy internet fancasting.) The film strives to be blatantly weirder, bloodier, and more gruesome than the usual MCU fare (which is really not saying much as this series is primed to appeal to the widest audience possible), but it remains so disconnected from the tactile experience of inhabiting a living body that the effort feels pallid. If you squint your eyes, you can see the Raimi sheen, but every broadly odd moment is ultimately devoid of the brio and complication necessary. After all, grotesquery isn’t solely about the images but what message they’re communicating. The message here: All this murder and insanity is the result of one woman and her desperate need to have (imaginary) kids.

Discussing Marvel films, and now TV shows, has come to feel like commenting on business decisions rather than artistic ones. The superhero juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down as it balloons in ways that force audiences to subscribe to Disney+ to understand the full litany of connections across its characters and worlds. It’s information gluttony. Yet audiences have been trained to subsist on scraps of diversity, of joy, of appropriately attuned bombast. There isn’t much else to say about these films. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness feels like a bridge to further stories rather than a work that stands on its own. How can it when there’s no end on the other side of the bridge in sight?

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Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Review

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

Has the time come for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to start adding a "Previously in the MCU" prologue to each of their movies? It's easy to imagine how bewildering Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness must be for a viewer not primed by recent, relevant Marvel adventures like Spider-Man: No Way Home , WandaVision and What If…? — as well as Scott Derrickson 's first Doctor Strange , of course, released all the way back in 2016. But while this latest cinematic blast of superheroism is almost distractingly entangled in previously woven story threads, it's great to see that it is also very much a Sam Raimi movie.

Raimi wasn't the first choice of director for this sequel, having joined after Derrickson and Marvel amicably parted ways. But he's been allowed to make it all his own, with even freer rein, apparently, than he was given on his OG Spider-Man films. As our sorcerous hero gets tossed from crazy encounter to even crazier encounter, Raimi's camera spins and whirls with CGI-enhanced but still somehow old-school abandon. For Evil Dead die-hards especially, there are jump scares and creep-outs, not to mention a malevolent book (the Darkhold, rather than the Necronomicon) and a cameo from Bruce Campbell, in which the poor guy is once more subjected to amusing abuse. It's a treat to behold Raimi back in action.

There are surprises a-plenty, too, with a bunch of fan-pleasing guest appearances you'll just have to see to believe.

“Action” being the key word, here. The movie cold-opens in the midst of a climactic battle-from-another-universe, in which Another Doctor Strange ( Benedict Cumberbatch ) and his dimension-hopping companion America Chavez ( Xochitl Gomez ) tussle with a demon made of lava and bandages. Within minutes, there's a second monster fight, this time on the streets of New York, and very soon after we get an epic showdown at sorcerer stronghold Kamar-Taj, which again has all the spectacle of any other film's finale. After that, it barely lets up for the next 80 minutes or so.

It's almost exhausting, but there's enough inventiveness to hold your focus. In one magical duel, for example, Strange weaponises the notes from sheets of piano music, tossing them like glowing shuriken, which adds a fascinatingly whimsical touch to the conflict. There are surprises a-plenty, too, with a bunch of fan-pleasing guest appearances you'll just have to see to believe. And there is also a hell of a body count.

Thankfully, it's all anchored by another strong turn from Cumberbatch as Marvel's surviving arrogant-super-dude-with-impeccable-facial-hair, who still reckons with his decision to enable Thanos' snap in Infinity War , as well as letting the woman he loved ( Rachel McAdams ' Christine) slip through his fingers. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Olsen explores a scary new side to Wanda with tragically charged gusto, and newcomer Gomez brings impressive warmth and feeling to a character who might otherwise have been rendered a walking MacGuffin.

The Multiverse Of Madness is noisy, frantic and at times a little messy, but it's never less than entertaining. The MCU faithful will cheer its numerous call-backs; Raimi-heads will groove on its Raiminess; and we suspect even those bewildered, unprimed viewers will at least appreciate the way it 100 per cent lives up to its title.

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Review: An enjoyable ‘Doctor Strange’ sequel delivers the flyin’, the witch and the red robe

Benedict Cumberbatch hurls a fireball as Doctor Strange.

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Double, double, gargoyles and rubble: There are witchy doings and evil twins aplenty in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the spookily unhinged new entry in the Marvel Cinematic — uh, Universe? Multiverse? Whatever we’re supposed to call this increasingly hydra-headed Disney content behemoth, it has rarely ventured in a direction this playful, this ghoulish, this exuberantly grotesque.

That’s another way of saying that the latest Strange brew — full of mangled extremities, gouged eyeballs and other freaky flourishes — is the satisfying handiwork of the director Sam Raimi, whose long-overdue return to feature filmmaking is no less welcome for being tied to Hollywood’s most continually fatted cash cow.

Raimi, of course, comes to this assignment with no shortage of Marvel movie history under his belt. An early throwaway Spider-Man joke gently reminds you that he directed the original Spidey film trilogy (2002-07) for Sony, though he’s steered clear of the many subsequent chapters, including last year’s hugely successful “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” That dizzying adventure, with its trio of Spider-Men wreaking meta-havoc on the MCU cosmos, was in some ways a warm-up act for all the multiverse-rattling chaos in store here. Written by Michael Waldron (“Loki”), “Multiverse of Madness” begins with a giant octopus attack and spreads its narrative tentacles from there, yanking us into an alternately goofy and grisly story that pauses every so often to unleash a tidal wave of grief.

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Some of that grief is expressed, with a stiff and handsomely goateed upper lip, by Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, superb as ever), the sardonic neurosurgeon turned mighty red-cloaked sorcerer who still carries a torch for his former lover and colleague, Dr. Christine Palmer (a game if underserved Rachel McAdams). But the real weight of this story’s emotional anguish is shouldered not by Strange, but by his old friend Wanda Maximoff (a spectacular Elizabeth Olsen), who — as dedicated MCU scholars with advanced degrees in “WandaVision” studies will know — has drawn on her formidable powers to blot out the trauma of her many unbearable losses.

That trauma still haunts Wanda’s dreams (she has nightly visions of her lost twin sons), and it now runs the risk of obliterating her soul. Determined to transform her shattered fantasies of a happy family life into a reality, Wanda, aka Scarlet Witch, has set her sights on conquering the multiverse — specifically, one of the many parallel universes in which a more carefree version of herself might settle down in undisturbed domestic bliss. It’s a heartrending vision, the kind that Faustian bargains are made of, and it floods the script’s sometimes inelegant, herky-jerky plotting with unexpected rivers of human feeling.

Elizabeth Olsen stars as Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch.

Wanda reminds you of Raimi’s long-standing affinity for witches, even if some of his haggard creations have been more memorable (Lorna Raver’s old crone from “Drag Me to Hell” ) than others (the three witches from the inaptly titled “Oz the Great and Powerful” ). Happily, he has a terrific performer here in Olsen; with fiery magenta eyes and a devil-horned tiara, she’s chillingly persuasive as a woman so devastated by her grief that she’s willing to inflict her own brutal casualties in order to overcome it. Building on the stealth emotionalism of her “WandaVision” arc, Olsen does possibly her most impressive work since her stellar debut in the 2011 independent drama “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” in which she also played a woman dangerously susceptible to the pull of mad, malevolent forces.

So emotionally dominant is Olsen here that Cumberbatch’s Strange sometimes feels less like a hero than a villain’s foil, which is honestly all to the good. Strange’s mission is simply to prevent Wanda from succeeding in hers, and to that end he’ll team up with a mysterious, multiverse-traveling newcomer, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez, appealing if bland), who soon sends them flying through one interdimensional portal after another. (The various alternate universes, including a flower-forward vision of New York, are the standout elements of John Mathieson’s cinematography and Charles Wood’s trip-tastic production design.) Along the way, he also leans on some familiar faces, including his wizardly colleague Wong (the invaluable Benedict Wong); his old frenemy Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor); and an alternate version of Christine who serves as a pesky reminder that love really is the most inescapable force in the multiverse.

Through the multiverse they go, crashing through various distorting and dreamlike mirrors — a cosmic labyrinth in which Strange and Wanda, in particular, will come face to face with a doppelgänger or two. Those surreal face-to-face confrontations allow the filmmakers to pose a few playful questions about fate, predestination and human decency: What binds us to our alternate-universe counterparts, and what sets us apart from them? Which recurring cycles can we break, and which mistakes are we doomed to repeat? These are rather different questions from the ones posed by the year’s other multiverse extravaganza, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and they land with particular force for Strange, who benefits, as ever, from Cumberbatch’s chronic unwillingness to seem too likable. Arrogance, cynicism and self-doubt become this Doctor Strange, initially obscuring — and then gradually revealing — his fundamental decency.

Xochitl Gomez, Benedict Wong and Benedict Cumberbatch

There’s still more: occult rites and ancient runes, high-altitude sanctums and acid-washed visuals, plus a bevy of out-there cameos that Raimi uses to poke fun at the elasticity of the multiverse. (It’s hardly a spoiler to note that it wouldn’t be a Raimi film if his favorite muse, Bruce Campbell, didn’t turn up in a scene or two.) There are also some deliciously pustular visions, including a few zombie- and wraith-like denizens who wouldn’t look out of place in Raimi’s “Evil Dead” movies. If Scott Derrickson, the director of 2016’s “Doctor Strange,” teased out the altered states and Far East mysticism in Steve Ditko and Stan Lee’s original comic books, then Raimi has found in this sequel a surprisingly accommodating vehicle for his ecstatic love of horror filmmaking (to say nothing of a darkly exultant score by Danny Elfman).

Raimi’s sheer passion for his material can sometimes overwhelm the coherence of his storytelling, and his unfashionable sincerity doesn’t always mesh with the breezy quip-a-minute tone that is the Marvel enterprise’s preferred comic idiom. I mean those both as compliments. Some overly busy cross-cutting and a few flubbed punchlines are a small price to pay for a filmmaker with enough of a vision to make you briefly forget that you’re watching another assembly-line product. That may not sound terribly inspiring, but in the context of an overall series where movie magic seizes hold only in fits and starts, it can feel downright heroic.

‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

Rating: PG-13, for intense sequences of violence and action, frightening images and some language Running time: 2 hours, 6 minutes Playing: Starts May 6 in general release

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Review: doctor strange and the scarlet witch take on the 'multiverse of madness'.

Bob Mondello

After unleashing all kinds of trouble in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel's Doctor Strange will try to clean up the mess in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Believe it or not, we've gone more than a month without the release of a Marvel movie. "Morbius" opened the 1 of April, and "Thor: Love And Thunder" isn't coming out until July. But there is a bit of fan service opening this weekend. Here's critic Bob Mondello on "Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness."

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: Shortly after the opening credits, Doctor Stephen Strange is at a wedding, wearing a brave face as his beloved Christine marries someone else. Then, somewhat to his relief, I suspect, bravery of a more conventional Marvel sort is needed out in the streets of Lower Manhattan. A one-eyed octopus that could have escaped from Pixar's "Monsters, Inc." - except that it's the size of a small apartment building - seems intent on eating a bus. Strange quickly realizes it's actually trying to eat a teenaged girl on the bus and puts a stop to that with much flexing of wrists and assistance from Sorcerer Supreme Wong.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS")

XOCHITL GOMEZ: (As America Chavez) Look out.

MONDELLO: The girl, once rescued, strikes Strange as familiar. Wasn't she in his dream the night before? Not a dream, she tells him - another universe in which he was a somewhat less reliable Doctor Strange.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) Things just got out of hand.

MONDELLO: A multiverse traveler who's being chased by a demon, the girl's name is America Chavez, which means people will spend the rest of the movie saying things like, we have to save America, and is America OK? - but never mind. The film has bigger fish to fry - that octopus, for instance. So Strange, figuring he needs an ally, turns to an old pal...

CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) Wanda.

MONDELLO: ...Who's also known as the Scarlet Witch.

ELIZABETH OLSEN: (As Wanda Maximoff) I knew sooner or later, you would show up.

CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) I need your help.

OLSEN: (As Wanda Maximoff) With what?

CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) What do you know about the multiverse?

MONDELLO: Now, I know a little something about the multiverse and how it gives you alternate versions of yourself, having caught last month's crazily inventive "Everything Everywhere All At Once." That was not, strictly speaking, good preparation for Marvel's multiverse, partly because it's thought through, where Marvel's works hard at seeming random and also because Marvel's is governed by different and extremely complicated rules in addition to the more prosaic ones that have always bugged Wanda.

OLSEN: (As Wanda Maximoff) You break the rules and become the hero. I do it, I become the enemy. That doesn't seem fair.

MONDELLO: Be that as it may, she does get to act while the others are busy soaring past a block-iverse (ph) and a paint-iverse (ph) on their way to a flower-bedecked New York-iverse (ph). There are even end credits for a splinter unit, which makes sense after you've seen Wanda wreak havoc in a hall of mirrors. Whatever can be done with performers gesticulating in front of screens has definitely been done.

CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) You OK?

MONDELLO: Director Sam Raimi, who cut his teeth on the "Evil Dead" franchise before he went family-friendly with the first three "Spider-Man" films, will get his horror freak on by film's end. Corpses and wispy black smoke wraiths will go toe-to-rotting-toe with the lightning bolt-tossing superhero types, but only after the filmmaker has dispensed with a full hour or so of explaining things.

CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) Multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little.

MONDELLO: And that goes double for intricacies in the darkhold and the Book of Vishanti and variations between sorcery and witchcraft. I'll let you wade through those for yourself. And what about the good doctor?

CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) I never meant for any of this to happen.

MONDELLO: Well, by comparison with the unrestrained love that audiences have for, say, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange-love, if you'll pardon that expression, seems limited. Not that Benedict Cumberbatch isn't hard-working - he brings a lot more intensity than you'd think possible to moving his fingers an inch or two as digital sparks fly. But his scripts have so far felt sort of second-tier in the Marvel canon. And the script for "Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness," which is absolutely the most entertaining multiverse movie to come out so far in May, is no exception. I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF DANNY ELFMAN'S "MAIN TITLES")

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Entertainment

Doctor Strange 2 gets lost in a tangle of fan service and half-baked ideas

The doctor strange sequel is a bloated comic book event in movie form.

By Charles Pulliam-Moore , a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.

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Most of Marvel Studios’ movies are meant to be at least somewhat accessible regardless of how much familiarity one has with the larger MCU or the comics a film is loosely based on. To a certain extent, this is also true of director Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , a crossover event-style film that goes all-in on the concept of alternate universes . Multiverse of Madness often feels like it wants to be a fresh starting point for a new phase of Marvel storytelling; what it actually is, though, is a testament to how easy it is for these sorts of sprawling franchise projects to collapse under their own weight when they get too big.

Because Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange played such a crucial role in the Infinity Saga and then almost immediately became the MCU’s new de facto fatherly mentor figure in Spider-Man: No Way Home , it’s easy to forget how little time the character’s really spent in the spotlight by himself. Strange gets precious little alone time in Multiverse of Madness , but the film opens on a dazzling and disorienting set piece that recaptures some of the Steve Ditko-esque magic that made Scott Derrickson’s 2016 Doctor Strange sparkle .

Doctor Strange gazing at a statue of himself.

Having faced down Dormammu, helped defeat Thanos, and pulled reality back together after breaking it with Spider-Man, present day Stephen Strange doesn’t really think much about the vivid nightmares he keeps having in which he’s not exactly himself. Horrific dreams filled with enchanted beasts are the sort of thing that experienced practitioners of the mystic arts like Strange and Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) are accustomed to. But Strange can’t help but feel that something’s deeply amiss when one of his night terrors takes a turn so grim that he’s jolted awake and left wondering who the mysterious young girl from his dream is.

Rather than specifying when exactly after WandaVision and No Way Home it takes place, Multiverse of Madness instead clues you in through small details about the world around Stephen, where he’s become known as one of the heroes who saved the universe. Where so many of Marvel’s post- Endgame stories have seemed comfortable digging through the immediate aftermath and chaos of Thanos’ snap, Multiverse of Madness feels almost pointedly focused on emphasizing how much people have moved on with their lives since then.

Were it not for Strange and the Avengers, Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) and her fellow surgeon Nicodemus West (Michael Stuhlbarg) would still be dust, and they’re all deeply thankful to the sorcerer for his good deeds. But with people’s lives returning to something like normal, it’s hard for Stephen and those around him to make peace with the whole of who he’s become: a powerful — but not the most powerful — magician whose ex-girlfriend ended up marrying someone else. Stephen Strange’s comics accurate assholery returns in Multiverse of Madness, both as a reminder of what kind of haughty jerk he’s always been and as a crystallization of how alienating his life as a superhero is. Whereas Strange’s glibness with patients and his peers made him unlikable almost to ridiculousness in the first Doctor Strange , here it plays much more like pithiness Cumberbatch is occasionally able to accent with charm.

Multiverse of Madness does not truly get rolling until America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) unintentionally crash-lands in Strange’s home universe while being chased by a demonic creature from one of Strange’s nightmares. In addition to bringing a new level of understanding about the multiverse as a concept to Earth’s heroes, America’s also Multiverse of Madness ’ closest thing to an audience surrogate. Though Gomez’s America is a promising and powerful presence in scenes where she’s interacting with Strange and Wong, her chunks of exposition heavy dialogue do little to distract you from the reality that she’s also one of the movie’s MacGuffins.

America’s uncontrolled ability to naturally travel between universes — visualized stunningly as her creating star-shaped rifts in space — makes her the target for an unseen magical menace that’s hellbent on killing her, and there’s little she can do to stop it. Like Spider-Man: No Way Home before it, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness very heavy handedly leads with the idea that Stephen Strange has picked up where Tony Stark left off in terms of becoming a mentor to wayward super children.

Multiverse of Madness knows that very little about the MCU’s Doctor Strange has at all suggested that he’d be inclined to look after a child, which is likely why it often feels as if the movie’s knowingly slowing down to show you how he comes to care for America. In those moments where it’s slowing down, however, Multiverse of Madness never finds the time to let America be much more than a quippy kid who needs to be saved, which has the unintended effect of making Strange’s care for her feel that much more difficult to buy.

Far more compelling than Strange’s nascent paternal instincts is Multiverse of Madness ’s take on Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), yet another powerful magic user whose dreams have become distressingly vivid and lifelike. Thankfully, Multiverse of Madness avoids rehashing too much of WandaVision ’s plot and uses the logic of comic books to reasonably bring its magical brain trust together early on in the movie. But there is such a pronounced breezing past the specifics of what happened in WandaVision that the Scarlet Witch’s motivations and her relatively newfound grasp of magic might not make much sense to anyone who didn’t watch the show. Even though it’s not really explained, what does make sense and feel much more “right” is the overall tone and energy of Olsen’s Maximoff, which feels more like a reflection of the character actually being given things to do in a movie for once.

Wanda and Doctor Strange having a conversation.

With magic now even more fully on the narrative table, Multiverse of Madness is able to get much more imaginative and cerebral in its depictions of monsters, and many of the whimsical enchantments that defined early Doctor Strange comics like the Flames of the Faltine and the Icy Tendrils of Ikthalon . Because this is still a Marvel Studios production, however, Multiverse of Madness ’ more fantastical battle sequences involving magic do have a way of getting too busy for their own good. It’s important to note that despite its Marvel-esque stylistic sensibilities, Multiverse of Madness is also very much a Sam Raimi film in which the director’s unmistakable personal tastes rush to the forefront in moments that feel like Marvel gave him the clear to get really wild and into his specific brand of messed up.

It would be dishonest to say that Multiverse of Madness is a horror film. Rather, it’s another very big, very expensive superhero movie in which a spooky and sometimes genuinely alarming filter is applied with varying degrees of success. While some of Multiverse of Madness ’ scares come across as gags, far more of them are disturbing and clever examples of what all magicians can pull off with a bit of imagination, and Raimi tries to mirror that idea with a mixed bag of ambitious but not always successful shots from bold angles. The situation is similarly uneven with Danny Elfman’s aggressive score that dramatically oscillates between different degrees of florid excess — none of which ever fully manage to complement Multiverse of Madness ’ sound design.

Many moviegoers will be showing up for Multiverse of Madness for no other reason than to see just how many cameos there are and figure out who all that multiverse brings into the MCU. To its credit, the movie delivers on that front with a handful of featured players who bring an interesting energy to the film that it could use just a little bit more of. If you’ve seen Spider-Man: No Way Home , then you already have an idea of what Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ’ reaching into other universes is meant to do within the context of its own story. It’s a fun and flashy storytelling trick that simultaneously makes you long for the past and wonder what’s coming next. Unlike No Way Home , though, where the multiverse was framed as being more like part of the landscape its heroes had to navigate, Multiverse of Madness treats the concept like a plot device meant to move its story forward.

Watching Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , you do get the distinct sense that you’re seeing the beginning of a new chapter for Stephen Strange and his associates, which is interesting given how listless the MCU has sometimes felt following the Infinity Saga. Clearly, Marvel’s already planning for a future that’s filled with even more of Strange’s brand of magic and far-flung characters you wouldn’t have dreamed of seeing in the MCU just a few years back. What seems less and less clear, though, is how Marvel Studios plans to get to that point.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julian Hilliard, Jett Klyne. The movie hits theaters on May 6th.

Update May 3rd, 1:45PM ET: Article updated to better describe the film’s visual style.

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DVD & Streaming

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness movie

In Theaters

May 6, 2022
Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange; Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch; Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo; Benedict Wong as Wong; Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez; Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer

Home Release Date

June 22, 2022

Distributor

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Movie Review

In an entirely different superhero universe, a famous villain once said, “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.”

For Doctor Strange, that’s all too true.

Steven Strange was a gifted, arrogant but pretty normal surgeon before he was in a terrible car accident. That crash pushed him into the realm of the seriously weird: He became a magic-wielding wizard, tasked with defending the planet from supernatural threats. It’s not an easy gig: In fact, he’s technically “died” myriad times for the cause, and we’re not even counting when he was snapped out of existence for a good five years (thanks to an Infinity Gauntlet-wielding Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War ). But hey, all in a day’s work, right? At least he saved the universe a time or two.

But now, saving the universe just won’t be enough. Apparently, the entire multiverse might be under threat—and it all boils down to one remarkable teen girl.

The fact that there’s just one of her—just one America Chavez—is significant in itself: After all, we’re talking about a cosmos full of universes, with each one populated by variations of ourselves. In one universe, Doctor Strange might sport a ponytail. In another, he could lose his famous goatee. In others, he might never have become a wizard at all.

But as far as America knows, she’s utterly unique—the only America Chavez in the entire multiverse.

But that’s not why horrific cosmic beasties seem so intent on grabbing her. Her real gift lies in her ability to hop from one universe to another—a one-of-a-kind talent held by a one-of-a-kind person.

But there’s a problem: She can’t control this ability. She’s a little like Strange’s old pal Hulk, but with an interdimensional twist: Stress her out, and she’s liable to punch a hole straight through reality and hop into another one.

She also has a distinct lack of superhero weaponry at her disposal. She’s not super-strong. She can’t turn invisible. Outside her multiverse talents, she’s pretty normal. And that means America’s in pretty dire need of protection. Doctor Strange will do his best.

But here’s the catch: America has run into other versions of Strange that promised to protect her, too. In the end, they wanted the same thing these creatures chasing her apparently want: Her power. These Stranges wanted it for the sake of the multiverse, of course. But given that taking that power kills America, it’s still not exactly a super-heroic thing to do.

Will our Doctor Strange be any different?

[Caution: The following sections may contain spoilers.]

Positive Elements

Doctor Strange does want to save America Chavez. And honestly, he does his very best. Better, certainly, than many other multiverse Stranges out there.

“All this for a child you just met yesterday,” someone sneers at Strange for his do-goodism. But that’s what heroes do, right?

But America’s a realist: She knows that Strange just might not be able to defeat the force arrayed against them. While previous versions of Strange have tried to take America’s power (with apologies, of course), America offers to give it to our version of Strange—even though it means her death.

She’s not the only hero here risking it all to save the multiverse. It’s what heroes do, of course.

One other interesting element to note: Wanda, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch, plays an important role here, and that role is predicated on her deep desire to be a mom. While the choices she makes here are often deeply problematic, that underlying love for her kids (or the notion of her kids—it gets a little confusing) can’t be shrugged off completely. Indeed, throughout the film, we see plenty of evidence of the power of love—even if that love is corrupted and twisted in dangerous ways.

Spiritual Elements

Bring Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch together in a film, and you know what you get? Magic . Lots and lots of magic. And we’re not talking Lord-of-the-Rings style spells, either. The magic we see in this film feels as dark and occultic as anything we’ve seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Multiverse of Madness draws a distinction between the sorcery Doctor Strange uses and the witchcraft practiced by Wanda. But both can apparently use the same sort of spell books , two of which play a huge role in the film. We see both cast a dizzying number of spells.

There’s a good spell book out there that gives good guys “whatever they need” to fight the evil they’re facing. But we don’t see nearly as much of that special tome as we do its evil twin tome, the Darkhold, a grimoire apparently written by an ancient demon. The book corrupts those who attempt to use it, and we see a few corrupted individuals. Using it is dangerous in other ways, too. One practitioner tells a friend to guard his body as he uses it, lest the “souls of the damned” seek to punish him.

Speaking of those souls, we see them in action: They’re skeletal beings that indeed seek to drag people to netherworlds beyond. A massive, secret shrine holds demonic spells as well (and is guarded by gigantic beings also referred to as demons). That shrine includes a relief that pays homage to a prophesied god-like ruler of the multiverse. It also seems to hold an altar of sorts, to which someone is magically chained. While it’s not referred to as a sacrifice as such, the scene’s whole vibe sure feels like some sort of blood-and-power offering to a dark deity.

A wedding takes place in a church, though the ceremony is attended by people of many faiths. (We see a woman wearing an Islamic hair covering and a Sikh wearing the faith’s characteristic Dastar.) A character sprouts a third eye in the middle of his forehead. A symbolic third eye—representing enlightenment—is a part of both Hinduism and Buddhism. A book that counters the Darkhold also exists, and its user allegedly receives whatever is needed to defeat whatever evil is being faced.

Sexual Content

Doctor Strange attends the wedding of his former love interest, Christine. We learn that Strange and Christine have always been an item throughout their various multiverses, though these relationships (as far as we can see) always wind up in heartbreak. Our version of Strange is still clearly in love with the woman, and he says as much.

In the comics, America Chavez was lesbian. And while this movie doesn’t make reference to America’s sexual leanings, we do briefly see and hear about America’s two mothers (also part of the original comics).

We see Strange shirtless in a scene or two. Some female characters wear form-fitting outfits.

Violent Content

We expect superhero movies to be violent. It’s really part of the genre’s DNA. But Multiverse of Madness seems to ratchet up both the death and the gore we see and hear about.

One character magically loses his mouth, which somehow causes his head to grotesquely implode. Another character is sliced right through the midsection: We don’t see what cuts the hero in half, but there’s little question, from the bloody weapon lodged in a wall beyond, of what has happened. Yet another character is magically (if bloodlessly) shredded. Necks are snapped. Bodies are sliced. Someone’s crushed underneath a statue, while someone else is vaporized by a single word. People are battered and thrown about. At least one person dies and is then re-animated—face decaying and disfigured, fingers grotesquely bent.

Dozens of people are killed during a chaotic battle—some reduced to smoking, charred corpses. Monsters suffer a massive amount of damage, too: One—basically a giant eye and a mass of tentacles—has his appendages sliced off and his eye grotesquely plucked out. Another is skewered through the chin with a blade. Musical notes become weapons in a surreal battle.

In all the chaos, there’s no question that countless civilians are killed or injured (though the movie does not pause to consider such things), and we learn that an entire universe was obliterated through the use of the Darkhold. Universes that are colliding (and thus in danger of being annihilated themselves) sport war-like landscapes. Strange makes someone punch himself repeatedly. (When Strange walks away from the man, he tells America he’ll keep it up for three weeks.)

Crude or Profane Language

Three s-words sully the script. We also hear “a–,” “crap,” “d—n” and “h—.” There’s one use of the conjunction “g-dd–n.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Strange drinks a martini at Christine’s wedding.

Other Negative Elements

Doctor Strange has always been a complicated superhero, one for whom the ends seem to justify the means. Here, he uses a weapon of unimaginable darkness to combat the multiverse’s prime enemy.

Someone asks whether Spider-Man shoots webbing “out of his butt.”

The latest Doctor Strange movie is a strange movie indeed. It begins with a fever dream of a battle in some sort of extra-universal space—half platforming gaming environment, half kaleidoscope. It ladles out enough cameos and Easter eggs and “What If?” scenarios to please the most ardent Marvel fanboy. The film catapults from action to action, battle to battle with barely a breath. If we were just grading this film for creative visual effects, we’d give it an A.

But the makers seemed to be so preoccupied with how this movie looks that they lost sight of how it feels. And honestly, it feels … pretty grim.

Director Sam Raimi is probably best known for the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies, but he made his name as a horror auteur. And The Multiverse of Madness often feels more Evil Dead than it does your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Forget Spidey’s motto, with great power comes great responsibility . Raimi used his movie-making power to give us one of Marvel’s darkest superhero stories yet.

The film’s magic feels just one step away from a Ouija board. The movie itself takes some characters and twists them out of shape. It seems to take pleasure in killing off well-meaning superheroes. And while the film does offer a few heroic turns and a salient point or two, they’re almost lost in the movie’s crushing sense of self. In spite of all its color, this Doctor Strange flick is emotionally bleak and spiritually dark. It’s as if the film itself made a bargain with its own Darkhold: In exchange for a bunch of colorful eye candy, The Multiverse of Madness lost its soul.

This is hard for me to write. I’m a superhero fan, and I think that, from Iron Man to Avengers: Endgame, the Marvel Cinematic Universe gave us an epoch for the ages.

Alas, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness does not, in my opinion, bode well for the ongoing MCU. I’d like to see more great stories in one universe—not dispiriting ones in several.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Review: ‘Doctor Strange’ and His Most Excellent Adventure

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By Manohla Dargis

Nov. 3, 2016

Most Marvel movies open like Robert Downey Jr.’s stand-up routine in “Iron Man” before it goes south. They deliver quips and silky come-hither nonsense, only to end up like a big green monster stuck on rewind: “Hulk smash!” again and again, ad infinitum. In between start and finish, there are moments of levity and discovery in the machined product, but too often you can’t see the movie for Marvel’s action plan. Its latest, the giddily enjoyable “Doctor Strange,” is part of Marvel’s strategy for world domination, yet it’s also so visually transfixing, so beautiful and nimble that you may even briefly forget the brand.

You don’t need to know Dr. Strange to know his story. A tale of hubris — with foolish pride and an inevitable fall — it opens in contemporary New York, where Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), is flying high as a supersurgeon. After a crippling accident, he abandons his old life (partly embodied by Rachel McAdams, dewy and funny) for a grand exploit, traveling simultaneously into his soul and to the misterioso Far East. He meets leaders and fellow travelers, studies books and unlocks secrets, in time becoming a superhero with magical powers, a dubious goatee and a flirty cape that dries his tears.

Movie Review: ‘Doctor Strange’

The times critic manohla dargis reviews “doctor strange.”.

In “Doctor Strange,” Benedict Cumberbatch portrays a surgeon who learns how to bend reality after a crippling accident. In her review, Manohla Dargis writes: The giddily enjoyable “Doctor. Strange,” is part of Marvel’s strategy for world domination, yet it’s also so visually transfixing, so beautiful and nimble that you may even briefly forget the brand. Dr. Strange’s voyage of self-discovery is as old as the ancients where men become near-gods while training amid hazy, low-key lighting. The director Scott Derrickson and his crew push the medium’s plasticity, creating spaces that bend, splinter and multiply. The movie’s more lysergic sections are followed with carefully aligned narrative bricks and mortar and sometimes sealed with a quip, as if to reassure you that there’s nothing too far out about any of this.

Dr. Strange first popped out of the glorious head of Steve Ditko, the comic-book visionary who brought him to life with Stan Lee (a pairing best known for Spider-Man). Dr. Strange’s travels east evoke the inner and outer magical mystery tours of the 1960s, summoning visions of head-tripping and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.” In a, well, yes, strange bit of timing, Dr. Strange appeared in 1963, around the time Harvard fired Timothy Leary and a colleague for conducting experiments with hallucinogens. Five years later, in Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,” the Merry Prankster Ken Kesey was downing acid and absorbed in “the plunging purple Steve Ditko shadows of Dr. Strange.”

“Doctor Strange” tethers its plunging purples, acid greens and altered states to a hero’s journey with its call to adventure, its mentor, its allies and its enemies. After his crisis, Dr. Strange lands in Nepal, where he meets a guide (Chiwetel Ejiofor, as brooding and sincere as Hamlet). There, he studies the way of the hero with the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), a Celtic sorcerer, who in the comics emerged from the Himalayas and the West’s long fascination with, and appropriation of, Eastern mysticism. (The screenwriter C. Robert Cargill has said that some of the changes involving the sorcerer, originally from Tibet, stemmed from concerns that depictions of Tibetans might anger China, a movie market powerhouse.)

Dr. Strange’s voyage of self-discovery is as old as the ancients and as familiar as Christopher Nolan’s 2005 “Batman Begins,” where men become near-gods while training amid hazy, low-key lighting. And just as Mr. Nolan borrows from the original Dr. Strange, this “Doctor Strange” borrows from Mr. Nolan. It owes a conspicuous debt to his delirious 2010 fantasy, “Inception,” and that movie’s vision of a city folding in on itself. In “Doctor Strange,” the director Scott Derrickson and his crew push the medium’s plasticity further, creating spaces that bend, splinter and multiply. A wall folds open like a spreading hand fan while cityscapes fragment into whirring, shifting fractal forms.

These impossible visions at times evoke the work of M. C. Escher , who used perspective to destabilize otherwise realistic images. Elsewhere, the movie’s pinging-ponging characters seem caught in one of Rube Goldberg ’s mischievous machines, like the witty chase in which Dr. Strange runs atop a platform while an enemy runs below him upside down, transformed into a gravity-defying doppelgänger. And, as with the dreamscapes in “Inception,” the special effects in “Doctor Strange” serve beauty and meaning rather than the grimly tedious destruction that drains energy out of most contemporary superhero movies. Here, you remember the wit, not the rubble.

The space-and-time warping and mirrored realities in “Doctor Strange” are a blast. They’re inventive enough that they awaken wonder, provoking that delicious question: How did they do that? At the same time, Mr. Derrickson resists the temptation to loiter. Drawn-out set pieces have become endemic in effects-driven vehicles and can stop a movie dead as filmmakers show off their cool toys (and budget) and ignore everything else, the story and restive audience included. In the modern-era superhero movie, this kind of grandstanding has nearly assumed the level of a genre prerequisite, especially in finales that never seem to end, but end and end and end (then die).

Mr. Cumberbatch’s affable screen presence works up a strong, steady counterbeat to his character’s narcissism. As is the case when he plays characters like Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Cumberbatch comes across in this movie as at once supremely capable (it’s easy to accept him as a neurosurgeon) and more than a little goofy, with the kind of lopsided beauty and spring-loaded physicality that seem ready-made for silly faces and walks. Dr. Strange’s arrogance ruins his career, but Mr. Derrickson makes sure that it doesn’t weigh down the story. The character’s conceit is a mask that’s always in danger of slipping, which complicates his heroism with moments of bluffing, comedy and doubt.

Mr. Derrickson does a lot right, including with his lineup of strong actors (the cast also includes Benedict Wong and Mads Mikkelsen) who hold your attention even as the ground shifts below their feet. They help elevate the more generic beats in “Doctor Strange” because, for all the phantasmagoria and time-skipping, there is also much by the book, including the vaguely Christ-like, fallen and risen savior. The movie’s more lysergic sections are followed with carefully aligned narrative bricks and mortar and sometimes sealed with a quip, as if to reassure you that there’s nothing too far out about any of this. That’s hardly unexpected, and it also scarcely matters because when a good fantasy fiction like this opens that door of perception called imagination it’s a total trip.

“Doctor Strange” is rated PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned) for supernatural violence. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes.

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Doctor strange, common sense media reviewers.

Mysticism, humor, and action surround unique Marvel hero.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The ultimate lesson is one of humility -- i.e. "It

As Marvel heroes go, Doctor Strange is closer to T

Lots of mass destruction of buildings and property

Two characters have had an intimate relationship,

One "s--t," plus a couple uses of "a--hole," "ass,

A character buys Kettle chips from a vending machi

Positive Messages

The ultimate lesson is one of humility -- i.e. "It's not about you." Arrogance and selfishness are limited, unfulfilling paths; learning to better yourself and following a path that isn't always easy provide greater rewards. Perseverance pays off. But rather than fight against a current, it can sometimes be better to surrender and use the current's power to your benefit. Argues that sometimes breaking the rules a little is necessary to get a job done. (And don't text and drive!)

Positive Role Models

As Marvel heroes go, Doctor Strange is closer to Tony Stark/Iron Man than he is to Steve Rogers/Captain America. He starts the story as arrogant and afraid but slowly learns humility -- to see a greater good outside his own wants and needs. He enters the battle even though he doesn't want to and even though he hasn't yet mastered his powers.

Violence & Scariness

Lots of mass destruction of buildings and property. A beheading (no gore shown). Frequent martial arts fighting, with some "magical" weapons (swords and whips made of light). Scenes on an operating table, with some bloody parts shown. Bloody scratches on the main character's face. Brutal car crash (character was texting while driving), with bloody hands and face. A terrible fall from a height, crashing through glass. Arguing. Some scary sequences (a brief nightmarish "journey" with grabbing hands).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Two characters have had an intimate relationship, and they talk comfortably together. Mention of "sleeping together."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

One "s--t," plus a couple uses of "a--hole," "ass," and "hell."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

A character buys Kettle chips from a vending machine; sign for Yakult drinkable yogurt. This is also part of the Marvel franchise, which has vast quantities of tie-in merchandise.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Doctor Strange is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but focuses on sorcery rather than more traditional superhero powers. At the start, the main character ( Benedict Cumberbatch ) is arrogant and selfish, but he slowly learns humility: to better himself and to think of others. Frequent comic book-style action violence includes large-scale destruction, a brutal car crash (the result of texting and driving), bloody wounds and scenes at an operating table, and a terrible fall from a height, crashing through glass. There's also martial arts fighting, fighting with "magical" weapons, a beheading, and other brief, scary stuff. A couple is said to have been in a relationship, and there's a mention of "sleeping together." Language includes one "s--t," two uses of "a--hole" and an "ass." The doctor is an unusual, but very entertaining, member of the superhero club, and the movie's mystical elements provide food for thought as well as fun. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Kids say (177)

Based on 40 parent reviews

Sorcery and black magic

Not a kids movie, too much blood and disturbing imagery, what's the story.

In DOCTOR STRANGE, the title character ( Benedict Cumberbatch ) is a skilled surgeon who's both successful and arrogant. After crashing his sports car, he finds that his hands are useless, and medical science can't restore them. But he hears of a man who was able to walk again after a spinal injury and seeks the source of this rumor, an Ancient One ( Tilda Swinton ) in Kathmandu, Nepal. At first the doctor mocks the Ancient One's claims that healing his spirit can heal his body, but he finds her powers genuine and begs to be taught. His training goes better than expected: It even appears that Doctor Strange might be a natural-born sorcerer. But a villain, Kaecilius ( Mads Mikkelsen ), has stolen pages from one of the Ancient One's spell books and intends to use them to bring a dark dimension to Earth. Has Strange learned enough to stop this evil from happening?

Is It Any Good?

Marvel's 14th Cinematic Universe movie has all the usual action and explosions, but it also has a different type of main character -- one who's magical and appealingly flawed but willing to change. Chiefly known as a horror director, helmer Scott Derrickson unexpectedly adds plenty of playfulness and humor to a story that could have been steeped in self-serious exoticism and mysticism. It helps that Cumberbatch and Swinton, as well as Benedict Wong as the keeper of the spellbook library, bring so much personality to their roles.

Most of Doctor Strange 's seriousness is a burden carried by Chiwetel Ejiofor 's Mordo character, but comic fans will at least know the reason why. Unfortunately, the best character moments tend to cool down and fizzle out during the big action sequences. But some of those scenes, which have beautiful "folding" effects as the sorcerers change the environment around them, are quite impressive, especially as Strange learns his powers. As the movie's climax arrives, the action becomes bigger and less involving. Still, it's thrilling to see Strange embrace his inner spirit, finding power by going with the current, instead of against it.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Doctor Strange 's violence . How does it compare to what you've seen in other Marvel movies? Is there a difference in the impact of hand-to-hand combat and catastrophic, buildings-collapsing type of explosions?

As the movie begins, how is the doctor selfish and arrogant? How does he learn to change these things? How does he demonstrate humility and perseverance ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Why do you think the Marvel comics have turned into such well-received movies? How does Doctor Strange fit in? How is he different?

What lessons does Doctor Strange learn from the Ancient One? Could you apply any of these lessons to your own life?

How does the movie address texting and driving ? Do the consequences seem realistic?

Movie Details

In theaters : November 4, 2016
On DVD or streaming : February 28, 2017
Cast : Benedict Cumberbatch , Rachel McAdams , Tilda Swinton
Director : Scott Derrickson
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Genre : Action/Adventure
Topics : Superheroes , Adventures
Character Strengths : Humility , Perseverance
Run time : 115 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : sci-fi violence and action throughout, and an intense crash sequence
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : February 18, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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