Spoilers Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness grade and discussion thread

Just having fun, I doubt 838 is literally the animated one but obviously some parallels/connections.

 

She wasn’t. They were just the heroes of that particular Earth. Even that evil Strange at the end wasn’t the same one from What If.
The movie did feel like a missed opportunity to use those characters, but considering they were just there to be killed brutally, maybe it was a good idea that they weren’t.

 

It still could be, they used the animated series theme, and we're almost 30 years past the last/next time we have/will see him, so there plenty of time to tell more stories with him.

Yeah, it'll be a different one, but it'll probably still be Krasinski, since so far the only variant we've seen who wasn't played by the same actor was Sylvie and that because of the difference in sex.

OK, that is a fair point.

 

I bet Anson Mount didn’t see that death coming.

 

I've already heard typical naysaying (not this thread which I haven't read yet nor the pre-release thread, but just in general) that this film is just another typical paint-by-the-numbers MCU flick.

Which is strange (sorry not sorry) considering this film is by far the darkest, gruesome, scary (albeit not that scary) MCU film or series to date. While I've made no bones of what I think of his films (not a fan of his Spidey films), I love the lengths Sam Raimi went through to make this film quite different from the "typical" MCU fare. Not just the usual horror jump scares (I particularly loved The Ring homage) but also the underlying sense of dread of how messing with the multiverse and the darkest of forms of magic comes with dire consequences.

I especially loved how the film weaved three personal stories of regret, grief, and trauma that permeated through the lives of Stephen, Wanda, and America (although the latter was a bit shortchanged and often lacked agency). The resolution (but perhaps not the end) of Wanda's story was the strongest note of the film, greatly elevated by another powerhouse performance by Elizabeth Olsen, who almost stole the film from Benedict Cumberbatch.

And yes, the fan service was glorious. From the heavily teased (Professor X) to the speculated (Blackbolt, Monica...no, wait, Maria!) to the leaked (PEGGY!) to the genuine surprises (unless they were also leaked and I managed to avoid them), I loved it all. The two biggest surprises completely floored me because I didn't see either of them coming. But, really, I definitely should have seen John Krasinski's coming considering he has expressed interest in the role before (when he made reference to Sue, I really hoped for an Emily Blunt appearance!). However, I didn't hear a whisper of Charlize Theron as Clea! Brilliant surprise there!

Ultimately, my only real complaints are the aforementioned lack of agency for America for most of the film and thinking that the film wasn't quite chaotic enough. Yes, it was mad, but not quite mad enough.

 

It's the same buffoons who keeps saying "Assembly Line" and "Marvel Formula" nonsense over and over.

 

Earth-838 Wanda has got a lot to explain to the other heroes in that world. To them, she just killed 5 people; including two Enterprise captains.
Speaking of that Wanda, with Xavier being a thing there, does that mean she's a mutant? Is Magneto her dad?

 

I've generally been very lucky when it comes to audiences but my late afternoon showing with only handful managed to produce a couple and a single guy who both annoyed the hell out of me. The couple (who were directly behind me) kept snickering and laughing at every bonkers and weird and creative choice Raimi made, which made it really hard to stay in the film. Especially when they snickered at Stephen being heartfelt to Christine at the end. And the guy (same row) kept making dumb, inane comments to no one but himself.

Not all of them. I know there's a teaser out there (one that got rescinded but was still out there) that had Peggy, but I didn't see anything about Reed, Blackbolt, or Clea, nor that it was actually Maria and not Monica.

But then, I also avoided most of the little teasers they bombarded us in the closing weeks.

Yeah, I was genuinely surprised how far Disney allowed Raimi to push the envelope here. Popping out Gargantos' giant eyeball was one thing because that was all CGI. But to go as far as he did with killing each of the Illuminati was a bit of shock. Yeah, we didn't see Peggy's actual disembodiment but it was heavily implied. Reed's and Blackbolt's were intense, too, if mostly CGI.

No kidding. Felt pretty telling that it went on for so long with just nothing but wall to wall of LOOK AT THE PRETTY CGI without a lick of dialogue (until the very end) and zero sense of plot (yeah, it's a teaser but still).

That's absolutely fair. I did initially think coming out that I wish there was more multiverse madness in the film but you're right that it's unreasonable expectations. We got a good sense of how diverse and crazy the multiverse is and we might get to see more of it in the next film with Clea. And I certainly didn't want cameo engine (although only slightly bummed with didn't get Jordan and Evans back as their Johnnys) and what we got was more than enough.

*insert Ken Jeong's I'll Allow It meme here*

That moment ranks right up there with Deadpool's Ferris Bueller trolling!

Yeah, I came to the same conclusion. There's no reason there can't be two (or several thousand) Captain Carters.

 

The one thing that disappointed me was the lack of Vision, either they couldn't get Paul Bettany back or because Wanda knew that Vision would be against her.

 

Wanda hasn’t heard of a sperm donor or adoption it seems

 

I was halfway hoping we'd see him swooping in at the end to rescue Wanda (that said, I think she teleported away at the last second as evidence by the colorful blast).

I'm sure we'll see White Vision again but there wasn't really any room for him in this one.

 

As an Evil Dead fan, I absolutely loved this movie.

One of my favorite details is that they had waves come travel out of Professor X's head when he used his powers just like in the comics and cartoon. Plus using the X-Men 97 theme?

 

Xavier was dying in the animated series and left for the Shi'Ar Empire in the final episode. It seemed like a symbolic death when I watched it.

 

That’s no longer the final episode.

 

Well, we’ve got two 616s now. The MU proper and the MCU (aka 199999).

I suppose each universe will have its own numbering system so they’d be a huge chaotic mess anyway. But, I’m the immortal words of Harry Hill; there’s only one way to sort this out: Incursion!!!

 

I think the company he had here and the way they were used pretty heavily implies Krasinski won't be the main Reed. I highly doubt we'll ever see Mount's Black Bolt as a major character in the MCU 616. We definitely won't see Stewart's Xavier as the 616 version. 616 Mordo is not going to become Sorceror Supreme and be accepted as a hero. 616 Maria and Peggy are dead and almost certainly not coming back. This was not a debut moment for future MCU heroes. It was a What If universe the main purpose of which was to showcase fun alternates, including alternate casting like Stewart. I think Krasinski got the nod here because of the endless internet memes about how people want him to be Mr. Fantastic, not because he actually fits what they want their long-term Reed to be (if they've even fully figured that out yet, since the movie doesn't have a writer yet that we know of).

If I had to place a bet about Wanda's future after this film, I think she might actually be dead - but comic book dead. I could see her (maybe in the Agatha Harkness show?) being in some version of hell where the demon Chthon is very angry with her for having rejected his throne and destroyed his Darkhold.

 

The Mordo stuff was weird. Strange kept saying that he’s his enemy and that he tries to kill him. Have I missed something?

 

Maybe you need to rewatch the ending and post credits scenes of the first Dr. Strange film.

 

Yeah but that was just him starting to go evil. He doesn’t go after Strange there.
I suppose it just happened off screen

 

Were her kids made from sperm?

Vision might have synthetic sperm?

Vision might have a tank in his torso he fills up with fresh sperm once a week, from the sperm bank.

Vision might not be the father.

One of the kids has super speed.

Quicksilver is his father.

The reason that 616 is the only reality where she doesn't have those exact same kids, which is what she wants, those exact same kids at that specific age, no older, no younger, is because in every other reality that Wanda checked out, Quicksilver did not die in Age of Ultron, then lived and then went on to bang his sister.

If Wanda married Black Panther would her name be Wanda Wakanda?