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

I don't think they did specify, I was expecting some kind of reference to Kang as well.

 

Did it have anything to do with the incursion Dark Steve caused?

His carelessness killed 8 billion people and 10 quintillion insects.

 

I was confused at first when John Krasinski showed up, as he's already been in he MCU before with Ant-Man & the Wasp and WandaVision, but I suppose as this was an alternate reality so it was ok

 

I have to say that I'm actually kind of impressed that Marvel Studios didn't hold back on this one. Wanda has had a couple of psychotic episodes in the comics, and few of them can be said to have ended well. But I was afraid they would do what they did in Iron Man 2 with Tony Stark's alcohol issues, and just give it lip service and not do anything with it, and "put her back on the lunchbox" at the end.

But, man, Sam Raimi certainly brought his personal touch to this movie! This movie was darker than both of FOX's attempts at Dark Phoenix combined. And they didn't tie it up with a neat little bow at the end. I'm sure Wanda will return, in fact I have long suspected that "House of Harkness" is actually going to be a continuation of Wanda's story, but now she's going to have a much longer road to redemption, if such as even possible at this point. Bring It On.

 

No body = no death. Plus there's a red flash of magic after the temple collapses.

 

I think you're from an alternate reality because John Krasinski isn't in Ant-Man and the Wasp and WandaVision.

I guess you're thinking of Randall Park who is in both of those productions but I don't know how you could confuse Krasinski with Park...

Yeah, I was worried, too (although I didn't think of Iron Man 2 and we're a long ways from those days) but I likewise was relieved how Raimi was able to seamlessly continue Wanda's arc from WandaVision.

As for her next appearance, I think you're still right that she will appear in House of Harkness but in a different role from what we may have initially expected. Like StCoop said, the red flash probably means she teleported away.

 

I assumed it was Thanos, keeping to the pattern of the other universe where Strange went over the line. Honestly when I saw this guy in the trailer I assumed it was the same Strange from 'What If' (the one actually good episode) but that guy was WAY more powerful, way less deranged, and way more of a tragic figure.
Bit of a disappointment on the one hand since that character was a lot more interesting, but on the other I'm glad it's not him given how quickly he was dispatched. Thankfully there's also an infinite number of Captain Carters, so she may not have been entirely wasted here.

 

Which is why they explicitly added the part about how she never dreams (which under the rules of the multiverse means she apparently doesn't have other counterparts to dream about).

Possible I'm being that guy here and spoiling someone else's fun but... I'm pretty sure that was a joke. I say pretty sure because I had to google it to find out there were actually tons of articles claiming he was going to appear in episode 7 of WandaVision the week before it was released and for some reason only Reddit can understand there's apparently an entire reddit thread dedicated to pretending he was actually in Antman and the Wasp.

 

It's because he's in an episode of The Office where as part of a prank on Dwight, he's posing as Jim and acting like Dwight just never noticed.

 

Whether this is true or not, it's now my head canon.

 

Ah, oops. Woosh!

Thanks, y'all.

 

Well that explains why I didn't get the reference. Never bothered watching either version of The Office.

 

I understood that reference.

 

Well, she also doesn’t dream.

But yeah, it’s more accurate to say they’re not -meant- to be the same multiverse. With a concept like the multiverse there’s always -some- way to technically make stuff fit, but between re-using the 616 number and now the America thing, I think it’s safe to say the MCU isn’t attempting to fit into the comics’ conception of the multiverse.

 

What's good is the Sam Raimi-ness of it. The opening New York fight has a bit of his Spider-Man feel and the horror stuff goes a lot further than you might expect for the MCU (that neck snap!) There's some neat camera work, fun and inventive comic book stuff, and the humour is dark and nasty and different. It looks really good for the most part.

What's bad though is how they do Wanda's story. In Wandavision she finally got over Vision's death and willingly gave up the illusion of him and their children. Here she's a total villain just because she wants to see her kids again. It makes Wandavision feel pointless. Yes there's a five second post credit scene in Wandavision where she reads the evil book, and yes Strange briefly says "the Darkhold corrupts everyone!" or whatever here, but it's really jarring going from her being a potential ally in one scene to burning dudes alive the next. TO BE CLEAR I'm not really complaining about them taking Wanda this far. If she's going to be the villain then great, go nuts! And Elizabeth Olsen does a great job and is pretty terrifying in some parts. I just wish they'd done something to transition her to this role other than saying "oh she read an evil book" and not doing anything to show how that evil book corrupted her. Like we could have got an Evil Book Reading montage or something! MORE EVIL BOOK IS WHAT IT NEEDED.

Could have done with then visiting a few more crazier universes too.

But I enjoyed it on the whole! Wanda is a villain is very effective. I loved her slaughtering the Illuminati. The quick deaths of Black Bolt and Reed Richards are very memorable! The dream-walking sequence was cool too. The musical note fight was fun! And I loved the finale featuring Strange possessing his own dead corpse and using the souls of the dead to fight Wanda. The fact that he gives his big inspiring speech to America while possessing a rotting corpse...that's great. So I really do like what Raimi brought to the movie. Give him a sequel where he's involved from the start and the script is finished before he starts filming.

America's actress was good and hopefully she'll team up with some other young heroes soon (in some kind of...YOUNG Avengers, maybe!) Strange's arc is a bit underdeveloped but the moment where he gives up trust to America is good (and enhanced by previously mentioned zombification.)

Ending with Strange collpasing on the street with his third eye coming in, but then walking around normally in the mid credit scene was really jarring. I love Charlize Theron but her introudction was incedibly half-assed.

Pizza Poppa did nothing wrong.

So yeah I liked it and it feels more comic booky than a lot of MCU stuff and I'm all in favour of that. It just could have done certain things better.

 

The Darkhold wouldn't have corrupted Wanda if she'd said the proper magic words when she claimed it.

 

Agents of SHIELD goes through the dangers of the Darkhold more clearly than this. It’s like a drug that feeds on your darkest desires. The more you use it the more that you need it. With Wanda already a powerful witch it probably was ten times more powerful

 

I watched the whole thing a couple of years ago...but I've forgotten most of it. I completely forgot Randall Park was even in it, let alone that particular joke!

 

If you happen to recall in that post credit scene where she is reading the book, you can hear her children faintly in the background. Alluding to she never gave up or got over her children.