Matthew J. Dinaburg

The Good Girl has officially Gone Bad. In Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) officially embraces the role of the villain. Long dead is the humble, tortured, empathetic orphan resolved to defend humanity against evil. To the new Wanda, re-creating her lost family is all that matters. Marvel basks in the gory violence of the horror genre as Wanda hunts Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and new-comer America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) through the multiverse, death and destruction piling up in her wake. 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest installment is equipped with breathtaking CGI sequences – from the dazzling simplicity of telekinetic tie-tying to the captivating chaos of Universe Jumping. But, it’s also riddled with frustrating inconsistencies and bewildering plot choices. It’s barely worth mentioning titular character Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), whose dull, redundant ex-love affair with Christine (Rachel McAdams) is nothing more than an excrescence – an ugly, superfluous outgrowth that makes audiences cringe and space out, hoping it’ll go away. It only seems fair to separate the praiseworthy – Elizabeth Olsen’s performance and the CGI team at Marvel – from the questionably unconcerned – director Sam Raimi and writer Michael Waldron. 

For starters: where did this new version of Wanda’s character come from? Audiences unfamiliar with the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021) struggle to comprehend the one-dimensional descent into darkness; the film begins after she’s embraced the villainous alias of Scarlet Witch. Glinda The Good is now the Wicked Witch of the West. Surprise! It’s remarkable that Elizabeth Olsen commands audiences despite the radical shift in her character. Her performance is powerful, the contours of her face shifting perfectly to convey loss, mourning, grief, pain, and most importantly: anger. And in the scenes where she’s back to good ol’ Wanda, she is demur and charmingly reticent – delightful.

The film presents an evolution to the Marvel formula, which is now merely Attraction – spectacle stripped of context, excitement crystallized in fights and CGI-animated sequences, fan service in pop appearances from beloved characters of comic-book lore. One might wonder: why is there a “memory lane” conveniently on the one street that Doctor Strange and America Chavez walk down? Why does Wanda wage war in a sweater and jeans when she has the power to change reality? Why is Doctor Strange randomly thrown to the only universe where he can easily access the power he needs? What happened to the art of exposition? What happened to the importance of character? How blessed is serendipity?

Perhaps most laughable is new-comer America Chavez, whose only known motivation for running away is because she’s in danger, whose only redeeming quality is that she’s in danger, and whose powers only awaken when she’s in danger. It’s hard to imagine a less-compelling defining characteristic than being in danger. Wanda says, “All this for a girl you met yesterday.” Oh, how on the nose! Yes, just a girl, with some powers, and nothing more. 

Marvel has been at the forefront of giving representation to historically un-represented minorities. LA-native Xochitl Gomez is of Mexican descent and should be recognized as yet another strong addition to Marvel’s ever-diversifying assembly of superheroes. But, the character of America Chavez serves no purpose in the story – she is simply a token. She is Dr. Strange’s trophy that he must protect, like an ancient amulet with secret reserves of power destined to save the day.

Regardless, it’s unfair to only point blame at director Raimi and writer Waldron; the content rooms at Marvel are as safeguarded and mysterious as meetings in the Italian mafia. All one knows is that they prep projects before scripts are written, and like all workplaces, rushed timelines beget hasty, poor decisions. In their defense, flimsy shrug lines like, “This universe sucks!” or the infamous, “I can’t control my powers!” are nothing more than eye-rollers in the grand schemes of the multiverse. But, the franchise is clearly happy to slap a release label on anything so long as it’s on schedule, and the excitement of the average fan turns into wasted money and lost time. 

Now, let’s wait to hit the panic button. Marvel wouldn’t be the world’s biggest franchise if they didn’t churn out great content. They wouldn’t be the most successful – wealthiest, make the most money, make you picture studio-head Kevin Feige diving into pools full of gold coins – if they didn’t make mostly good movies. This century – remind you, that’s twenty-two years and a little, an entire adult who can drink old – Marvel’s had more classics than any other studio in Hollywood. They’ve had winners, and are entitled to some misses. This is certainly a miss. In terms of story and character, it’s better to hope the next installment does justice to once-beloved superheroes. As the famous saying goes: there’s only one place to go from here, and that’s up! 

But, this film has some dazzling moments. Wanda’s powers – her Red Vapor – are dazzling and effortless on-screen, so are Dr. Strange’s yellow-circle slink-ring-creations. The mirror dimension has an incredible new twist. It’s become almost second nature to ooh and ahh at Marvel’s unprecedented CGI graphics and forget to give praise. 

Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness adds to a long lineage of films that bring audiences into unfathomable worlds and situations – equipped with powers, fantasy, new laws of physics, and random, inexplicable, half-human half-animal creatures (this time a bull). It’s unbelievable that this film received backlash for the post-credit scene’s animation. What a perplexing audience Marvel fans are! They accept baffling character changes and ridiculous plots, but how dare there be an animation mistake! I think that should change. But, gratitude is not a reviewer’s forté. 

Keep your money. Watch the fight scenes on Youtube.

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