First Take: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - is Marvel having a mid-franchise crisis?

Spoiler free as usual. Because there are other universes which can spoil it for you.

SYNOPSIS: Dr. Stephen Strange casts a forbidden spell that opens the doorway to the multiverse, including alternate versions of himself, whose threat to humanity is too great for the combined forces of Strange, Wong, and Wanda Maximoff.

It can only be that time of year again, when another entry into the esteemed MCU hits cinemas with a vengeance. When Doctor Strange 1 came out in 2016, most critics were united about it being a breath of fresh air compared to previous origin stories. So ‘Lord Feige’ as I shall now call him doubled down, hiring Spider-Man helmer (and pioneer of the ‘video nasty’) Sam Raimi to direct the sequel. Pour a cup of Earl Grey folks, we might be here for some time.

Raimi’s direction isn’t at fault here, he does manage to deliver a 2 hour 6 minute film that satisfies fans of the comics - especially with how the whole idea of the multiverse is handled. But that script from Michael Waldron felt like it was written very quickly… which it was - the original writer/director Scott Derrickson stepped down in January 2020, citing the old ‘creative differences’ line, and as a result this revised script was created during the lockdown. Add to that a lot of changes to the release date, and it really does feel that Covid got in the way of what Raimi had set out to make, but we’ll get back to that plot a bit later. On cinematography duties is John Mathieson, who does a fantastic job as ever, and returning to work on the score is Raimi’s long-time collaborator Danny Elfman, who does actually utilise cues from the first film (and he does it pretty well).

The cast do also put in some good work, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen continuing their fine form from previous MCU entries (in Olsen’s case, she is one of the main narrative driving forces of the film, and it is highly advised that you watch WandaVision before seeing this movie), with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong and Rachel McAdams also returning to support these two main roles. But undoubtedly the real performance of note is from Xochitl Gomez as America Chaves. Undoubtedly the glue that holds this film together, Gomez feels like the right talent to play a character like this, considering the fact that Marvel put a lot of thought into when exactly would be the right time to introduce her to the overall Phase 4 storyline, and that’s all I can say without spoiling anything.

But the main fault, and this is a very rare thing for me to launch into a rant about, is the shocking call by the BBFC to classify this at 12a. Obviously I can’t go into too much detail for understandable reasons, but there are moments in this film that will scare and potentially traumatise anyone under the age of 12. It is way darker than any Marvel film that has come out in this era of the comic book movie, and I really don’t say this lightly, this is a full on horror film that snuck through the guidelines uncut. Don’t even think about bringing kids to this film unless you’ve read the guidance provided by the BBFC, because this should have been a 15. No ifs, no buts. Marvel have overstepped the line here, and it might cost them big time.

THE VERDICT

While it is a visually stunning film, the plot, and the dark nature of this one left an incredibly sour taste once the lights came up. I’m still not sold on Phase 4′s direction at this stage, so it really does come down to Taika Waititi’s efforts on Thor later on in the year to convince me - but as it stands, Marvel are going too far, too quickly.

RATING: 3.5/5