Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness: Special Delivery. (Analysis & Spolier Review)

Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness has made its world debut and Marvel Cinematic Universe fanatics such as myself couldn’t be happier. I am proud to say that this film accomplishes everything I predicted that it would in a previous article I published called “Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness: Prediction of an Impact” where I gave an outlined prediction of what I believed was gonna take place in the MCU’s newest release as well as the impact I believed it was going to have.

Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is without a doubt, a mind blowing masterpiece. Many fans such as myself went into this film not knowing what exactly to expect. Though many of us had a good idea of what was about to unfold, given the aftermath of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the plot that stood before us wasn’t something we were prepared for. In light of all the trailers, tv spots and internet media speculations, my personal take on what I thought this film was going to be about went something like this: There is an inter dimensional threat to the universe upon us and Dr. Strange and Wanda “Scarlet Witch” Maximoff are going to join forces to stop it by any means necessary. I think it is safe to say I was wrong and I am not afraid to admit it, given the shocking twist of events that actually did follow.

Audiences were shocked to find out that the villain of the newest Dr. Strange entry was actually fellow hero and Avengers alumni Wanda Maximoff, who has now become a fantasy driven megalomaniac who seeks genuine motherhood and family life after the events of her stand alone rodeo WandaVision. As a big fan of the Avengers and Wanda Maximoff, I have to say that it was both shocking and enjoyably intriguing to watch Wanda become a conscious villain. At first I honestly didn’t believe it was the Wanda that all of us fans have grown to know and love over the course of the past 8 years. I actually thought it was a Wanda from another universe, boy was I wrong again.

As Marvel fans we have seen a beloved character go from villain to hero with the journey of Asgard’s mischievous Loki, but never have we seen an MCU character go from full fledge hero to a conscious power drunk villain. In this dark transformation we witness Wanda commit mass murder and destruction in a way that self sabotages her heroism and innocence. Though a chance encounter with another universal form of her own self gives her a moment of clarity and brings her back within reason. Wanda sacrifices herself in the name of good and though it is not truly known if her sacrifice resulted in a demise of death, fans are left to ponder on not if Wanda is truly dead, but if she is alive, can she be redeemed for the destruction that she has caused.

From the moment the Multiverse of Madness dropped its first trailer fans knew we were going to get some new faces along with a few older faces being thrown into the MCU mix of Dr. Strange’s latest masterpiece. One of those faces was the Fantastic Four frontman Reed Richards, portrayed by newcomer John Krasinski for the first time ever in the MCU and of course as fans predicted from the first trailer’s hint, Professor Charles Xavier, the patriarch of the X-Men. These pre-predicted revelations made fans jump for joy in a manner reminiscent of Spider-Man: No Way Home and to add the icing on the cake, the Fantastic Four and X-Men front runners were joined by returning MCU alumni including Dr. Strange former friend turned foe Baron Mordo, Peggy “Captain Carter” Carter, Maria “Captain Marvel” Rambeau and Blackagar “Black Bolt” Boltagon, as the Marvel ensemble known as the Illuminati, who reveal a surprise Thanos connection. Fans were also introduced to an impressionable young inter dimensional being named America Chavez, who carries a youthful enthusiasm reminiscent to that of Spider-Man’s back in 2016. Together this ensemble of characters definitely create a charismatic chemistry that delivers crowd rocking satisfaction to all audiences.

All in all, Multiverse of Madness is a spellbinding chemical reaction with so much door opening potential. This is film definitely one for the books that have many fans talking and acknowledging it as one of the MCU’s best. With its considerably dark ending, one can only imagine where the MCU will go from here.