Benedict Cumberbatch dons his Cloak of Levitation once more after the massive success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the sequel of his own film, this time directed by none other than Sam Raimi -replacing Scott Derrickson, who left the film in the early stages of production-.

As he did in his previous appearances, Cumberbatch uses his screen presence, charisma and self-aware humour to perfectly capture the essence of his character, a slightly arrogant, yet highly intelligent man who has to deal with the weight of his decisions -yes, it is a role somewhat similar to his Sherlock Holmes, but sometimes you should not change something that works, plus, here he does a lot of movements with his hands-. However, despite the fact that Strange is neither as charismatic and loved as Iron Man or Spider-Man, as timely and necessary as Black Panther, nor as humorous as Star Lord or Ant-Man, he might be the most important of the bunch for the future of the MCU -Marvel Cinematic Universe-.  

Currently on its Phase 4, the MCU is immerse into the exploration of multiverses, expanding in such a way that it would not be a surprise to see Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four in one of the upcoming films -especially taking into account some of the heroes that show up in this film-. The concept of the multiverse, which makes up for a contrast in relation to the cohesive narratives of their earlier films, is here to stay -whether we like it or not is the buzzword in the film industry at the moment-, so, in order to prospect for future superheroes and bring back some of them from the past, the most necessary asset that Marvel has at their disposal is none other than Doctor Strange.

Having proved his capacity to travel anywhere imaginable -and in the process bring back a few fan favourite characters- in the latest Spider-Man film, Strange doubles down on his sequel, as he is joined by America Chavez -played by Xochitl Gomez- a teenager with a capacity to travel within dimensions. The film -which I will not describe in detail, given the minefield of spoilers that surrounds its plot-, does not waste any time and we immediately jump into the action going from a nightmare to other universes with zany energy. On their way, Strange, Chavez and the Sancho Panza-esque Wong -the always great Benedict Wong- not only encounter other versions of the Sorcerer Supreme (including a zombie one and others with fantastic eyesight and cool haircuts) and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Baron Mordo, but also and most importantly, they will cross paths with Wanda/Scarlett Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The script by Michael Waldron -who, among other things, wrote the show Loki as well as episodes of Rick and Morty- clearly knows that despite the fact that the film has the name of Doctor Strange on its title, its heart is on the character of Wanda. The last time we saw Wanda, she had created her own reality -modelled after a slew of sitcoms- in WandaVision, and in this film we meet her having dreams about her children, dreams that turn into nightmares that push her to find the ones she loves, no matter the consequences.

Her journey is not only the most compelling of the film, but also it makes her the most interesting and well-rounded character, as we understand her motivations, even though she has turn to the other side and become a villain herself, as she puts it to Strange: “You break the rules and become a hero. I do it and I become the enemy. It doesn’t seem fair”. Olsen magnificently plays Wanda/Scarlett Witch, making us root for her character, as her story is more meaningful than that of Strange -honestly, I believe that his relationship with Christine Palmer (played by Rachel McAdams) has not been well developed to make us interested-.

END OF SPOILERS

It is curious to see that 20 years ago -that is 2002 not 1982, for those who dislike maths as well as getting older- Sam Raimi premiered his Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe, and in the process strengthened a superhero trend that had started with Stephen Norrington’s Blade, Bryan Singer’s X-Men and -in a slightly different route, yet a more remarkable one- M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable. Before Christopher Nolan directed the Dark Knight trilogy, all superhero films were measured against Raimi’s take on Spider-Man, especially against his superior sequel Spider-Man 2 -the third one belongs to a multiverse nobody should ever visit-.

It would be simplistic to remember him only for his job bringing the friendly superhero to the big screen, as Raimi is a highly imaginative director who broke his teeth with a short film that ended up shaping The Evil Dead, one of the staples -together with its sequels- of the horror genre in its own right, and a problematic film for the censors in the heyday of the Video Nasties. Back in 2002 he demonstrated how to use his own filmmaking style to breathe life to Spider-Man, so it is not surprising to see that he has done exactly the same with his Doctor Strange sequel, film in which he deftly tightropes the thin line between making a Sam Raimi film and a Marvel film.

His admirers will be pleased to see that the director of Drag Me to Hell has not exercised due diligence and instead has managed to imprint his classic trademarks everywhere – from a funny musical battle that is clearly in tune with his love for slapstick comedy, to magical spells, enchanted books, a deadite-like Doctor Strange and the essential Bruce Campbell cameo that will take you back to his Evil Dead days. Also, Marvel fans will be pleased to see that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness delves further into the central character and his mythology whilst their journey into the unexplored multiverse continues.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a film that delivers exactly what it promises, and while somewhere in a parallel universe there is a better film in which the main character is Wanda, Raimi’s new foray into the superhero world is a fun piece of entertainment that feels chaotic, mostly because on its mission to conquest all universes it is all over the place.