A Lack of Class Consciousness: Doctor Strange and Pizza Poppa in the Multiverse of Privilege

The film, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness introduces audiences to Pizza Poppa. The scene featuring this recently added hero may be jarring to moviegoers in its brevity. One can see from the clearly abbreviated appearance that MCU newcomer, Pizza Poppa was intended to be a costar of the film assisting Doctor Strange, most likely operating at night in the 838 universe to slow Wanda Maximoff's progress buying time for Strange and Chavez. Pizza Poppa, played with grace and pathos by veteran actor Bruce Campbell of Hudsucker Proxy fame, spends his days trying to make ends meet as a street vendor requiring that he relegate his crime fighting efforts to night time, much like many people in the so called gig economy who have to work multiple jobs to get by. The hints that audiences witness could leave some folk questioning why the original plan for the film was abandoned for more standard fare, perhaps fear on the part of wealthy elitists that a (quite literally) hero from the streets placed in juxtaposition to the upper class snobbery of Doctor Strange would prompt a class uprising?

Our first hint comes from America Chavez's comment that food is free in most universes, only to discover that food was not free in the universe they were visiting at the moment (labeled 838) - not free, just like in our universe. In fact, Chavez's comments, made with the recognition that she had little to no money to pay for food, inadvertently or purposely placed her in the same social strata as Pizza Poppa, our blue collar hero who stands in stark contract to Stephen Strange, a man who has clearly never had to sell tiny balls of pizza dough on the sidewalk. Strange obviously has no sympathy for working folk. He could have chosen to pay for Chavez's food. This would have represented a recognition on Strange's part that he has a responsibility to the needy, to children, and a double responsibility to needy children. After all, if Strange had paid for Chavez's meal, then Ms. Chavez would have benefited, Pizza Poppa would have been compensated, and Strange would have contributed to the well being of everyone. Strange's choice, instead, to punish the working man by stealing from him and harming him physically was a transparent allegory for the refusal of upper class elitists to pay their fair share of taxes – for like the government, “Pizza Poppa always gets paid,” except in cases of tax evading, wealthy derelicts like Doctor Stephen Strange.

Further evidence of Pizza Poppa's initial hero status is found in Poppa's anger at 616 Strange's apparent pilfering of 838 Strange's cloak of levitation from the museum. The audience knows Strange did not steal the cloak, but Poppa did not. Poppa's response was obviously intended to be a result of the sort of respect one has for a coworker, a colleague in arms. It's worth noting that Earth 616's Doctor Strange has little concept of this sort of respect as is manifest in his treatment both of 616's Tony Stark and of 838's Pizza Poppa. It further demonstrates that Pizza Poppa believes that people and public institutions have a right to their property; something Strange seemed to care little about as he exited the scene leaving Poppa minus his goods and his money. Strange walked away and laughed at the situation in which he placed Pizza Poppa. Poor Poppa was left without payment for his goods and with a curse that caused him to strike himself. The scene is emblematic of the cruel indifference with which the mega-wealthy view common working people, ignoring their struggles while blaming them for their pain. It's the equivalent of the “quit hitting yourself” bully's joke. This act on Strange's part, however, could not be seen as a joke by Pizza Poppa. The heroic street vendor suffered both physical harm and presumably time off work. Poppa has to be on the street doing his job daily. Unlike the privileged, haunted mansion-dwelling Stephen Strange, who was at the film's end not afraid “not at all” at the prospect of thrill seeking in yet another dimension. Pizza Poppa is a working man's hero. He can't go gallivanting about universes on a whim. Poppa's reality is more like our own, and this puts the noble Poppa in a different, more down to Earth mindset than the cavalier Strange. It also means that, while Poppa can appreciate the demands work places on average men and women, Strange cannot, and if Strange could appreciate these challenges, he never would have treated Poppa in such a barbarous fashion.

It's not clear why Raimi left Pizza Poppa's night time heroics out of the film and chose instead to focus the story entirely on Doctor Strange, especially during a time when inflation, rent, food, and health costs are so high that each time common working people have to fork over hard earned cash, each time getting less and less from their work and for their currency, they feel like they're being bludgeoned, much like Stephen Strange's magical sense of privilege bludgeoned our hero, the virtuous yet hapless Pizza Poppa. Maybe Raimi's original intentions angered powerful people. After all, including the deleted story line featuring Pizza Poppa's heroics would have quite rightfully portrayed Pizza Poppa as Doctor Strange's heroic equal, their economic inequality notwithstanding. Perhaps including this theme was too much of a threat to too many high placed people. Maybe Disney wanted to avoid inspiring working people to finally stand up and demand to be paid as did Pizza Poppa. Maybe movie makers felt they owed it to the legacy of Walt Disney, himself a known associate of tax evaders like Joseph M. Schenck. Sadly, by deleting Pizza Poppa's story, producers denied Doctor Strange a worthwhile character arc; Strange would have been forced to recognize Pizza Poppa's equality and, in so doing, come to terms with his sense of privilege. Alas, just like Pizza Poppa, audiences were robbed.