DOCTOR STRANGE 2: Thank the Devil, It’s The First Love It / Hate It MCU Movie In Years… (Patreon)

“It’s a Sam Raimi movie!”

Twenty minutes before showtime, I got that text from a friend who had just got out of the film. But it’s something that I didn’t expressly believe at the moment, because I suddenly realized that I desperately wanted it to be true. Which is also the moment I realized just how on guard I've been about this whole scenario. That’s because Sam Raimi is one of my favorite filmmakers. It’s not just his genre-defining Spider-Man films. Nor is it his Spook-a-blast roots with the Evil Dead films. It’s everything. It’s the endless cinematic inventiveness that creeps into everything he does. It’s the sense of unhinged danger. The idea that anything in his films could go so wrong at any moment. There’s an edge to all of it. A puckish quality. But also a spine. A moral backbone. And often, an unexpected bit of vulnerability, often with the willingness to be square and corny and everything that other movies are “too cool” for. Hell, even when he’s on his “best behavior” with the camera, you get A Simple Plan, which is only one of the best films of the 90’s… And now it’s been 9 years since he made a movie.

Where was he? What was he trying to do? I know OZ was a bust, and I know there’s been television, but honestly I was getting worried. And when I learned that he was coming to do Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, I was honestly terrified about what joining the MCU system would do to him. We all know the stories. Just as we know that the ones who tend to work best in the system are comedic voices that play well with others. They’re not puckish. This is a studio that loves to play it safe and soften the edges. And this is a director practically defined by doing the opposite. Would I be able to even see him within the machine? So in the very least, I hoped for a sequence or two to see those flourishes. That may have been enough.

But instead? You get a movie that plays nice before throwing caution to the wind and going full Raimi. I was ecstatic. But I think that’s not going to be a singular response. If my opening night audience is any indicator, half the people were cackling madly with delight, but the other half? Hoo boy. They were NOT happy. And I immediately realized we had Marvel’s first “love it or hate it” movie in years. But moreover, we have a film that gets into a clear divide of what we all want when we watch these particular films. But in order to talk about why?

I have to get right into SPOILER TERRITORY so fair warning!

It starts with an anecdote. At my screening there was one girl dressed at Wanda and upon exiting the theater she was looking around at other people leaving and yelling “Don’t be mad at me!” and at first I thought this was a kind of playful joke about the fact that Wanda is, in fact, the straight-up villain of the film. To be fair, this “turn” happens like 10 minutes into the film and honestly should have been something communicated in marketing instead of played as a surprise? Like, maybe I missed something, but I feel like it could have helped some folks mentally prepare for what was going to happen in this fucker (and get excited about the idea of villain Wanda). Because soon enough I realized the person who was dressed up wasn’t just joking. That she seemed genuinely upset / confused / trying to suss out her feelings on WHAT this movie was doing with these characters. And I realized that this is precisely the kind of thing that could have happened sooner or later.

Thus far, the MCU has perfected the air of easy-going, likable charm. A vast array of quippy, characters you can be friends with, see yourself in, and indulge in. The success of this, economically-speaking, is obvious. But in terms of creating meaningful popcorn art? Less so. There’s been bright spots, of course. There’s been lots of times that the movies have really zeroed into a good relationship moment or genuine, in Black Panther’s case, really tamped down into the thematic messaging of the film at every step. But most of the time the MCU efforts play a game of lip service. Characters make “mistakes,” but in the end, they’re never really wrong. Which means that we, the vicarious audience, never have to feel like we’re wrong either. I’ve written about it a lot, but I think it’s a really dangerous game to play with superheroism. These are supposed to be big broad tales that play with Aesop-ian morality tales, but they’ve settled for the whizz-bang shrug and the pat on the back. Sure, you can invoke the words of “with great power comes great responsibility,” but if you don’t mean it? Then things can get troubling very quickly.

Not just because things start to get very fascist, but very myopic. Because it allows you to disconnect from the crux of being ordinary. You can so easily feel like you’re part of the snarky world view, feel superior, think rarely of others, and indulge your behaviors. Nowhere did this tact seem more true than with Wandavision. A show which showed off the amazing range of its actors, had fun, but still played with the mystery box en route to… torturing townspeople. Then the ending just casts it aside like “I understand!” and it felt utterly bizarre. To be super clear, I don’t feel like Wanda needs to be “punished” for her role, nor even for anything she does here. I think there just needs to be a real display of understanding for actual behavior, en route to some larger point of dramatization. Lots of people called it out, but at the same time, the fault didn’t register at all to some, which I fear is a symptom of the very thing I’m talking about.

But as it turns out, Wandavision was really just an aperitif for her grand villain turn. Which gets a few responses from me. First, it makes me actually a little more okay with what happens in the show because it means that, for the first time, the “we’ll deal with it later” MCU tactic actually got dealt with. Huzzah! But honestly, if that’s where it was going it makes me wish that’s what the show was making it clear that this was her villain turn. Not just because it would have properly contextualized the show AND set up this film, but they didn’t seem comfortable with it? But I’m very okay with villain turns! They’re fun! Which is part of why I like how quickly Doctor Strange 2 just takes her and since “the darkhold” has taken its… dark… hold… on her, that means we can just get into the dang conflict.

Well, sort of. The first half feels like Raimi playing nice with the fun and games of Wanda hunting our multiverse for our punching mcguffin gal of America Chavez. But by the time we get to The Illuminati, it’s the moment I’m suddenly worried that the film is going to drown in cameo-itis. Yes, it’s Captain Carter! Black Bolt! Maria as Captain Marvel! Oh crap, Patrick Stewart is Professor X again! And yes, John Krasinki as Mr. Fantastic himself, Reed Richards (though for me, there wasn’t enough time for me to get a handle on whether I like him in the role? I dunno, I always feel like Reed should talk fast and always seem a little aloof, but I like Krasinki enough that I’m excited to see what he does). And just when you think this is going to be some whizz-bang action affair, BOOM. Raimi drops the hammer. The way Wanda absolutely just lays waste to all of them? Yup. It’s violent. Shocking. Gross. Black Bolt’s head explodes! Peggy gets cut in half by the shield! Charles’ neck is snapped! Fuck I’m still sitting here thinking how in that universe Mr. Fantastic’s kids are now actually fatherless, just as she threatened. If that makes you feel icky? That’s okay!

Because it should! And it’s okay to feel icky! It’s okay to be scared!

Because it feels like the first time they finally understand the push / pull of what you can do with the multiverse stuff now. Not everything has to be this endless tease and team-up. You can finally show CONSEQUENCES and genuine bits of finality. Especially because these cameos are not the be all and end all of these characters. Remember, it’s all pretend! And on the meta-level it feels like Raimi having fun with the MCU’s cameo-itis and having a puckish laugh at the instinct. Better yet, this is the moment where it feels the movie gets drunk on possibility. The moment where Raimi just grabs the reins and just goes, dammit.

The Book of Ashanti gets destroyed! Strange has a musical note fight with a version of himself! And it all cascades into my favorite thing, which is when Strange goes full Book of the Dead, uh, I mean Darkhold, and resurrects a zombie version of himself for the final battle! It’s so absolutely Raimi. The design almost feels like a direct nod to Neeson in Darkman at times. I mean, The scene of him giving America the pep talk in full make up with jaw half-off is just fucking aces. Better yet, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Benedict Cumberbatch having this much fun!?!? Same goes for Olsen, who I think is an incredible actress. For countless MCU movies now we had to see her milk what little she had. Then Wandavision, my misgivings aside, is an absolute testament to her range and ability. And here she gets to dig into damn fun and go wild as the twitchy, witchy villain of the piece. It’s like Raimi saw the story arce and was like, “oh she’s now the Scarlet Witch? Well, we’re gonna go FULL scarlet witch, then.” And boy, do they (we’ll get to the problems in a minute), but however “unlikable” a choice it may be, it is a committed one.

Which brings it back to the crux.

What I love about this movie is sort of shines a light on everything I’ve been talking about, specifically in what the rest of these easy going, no consequence movies really are. Because this is what happens when you interrupt the air of nice-ness to play with jarring tones. This is what happens when you remove the joke fest and let the exposition be clunky. This is what happens when you take away the stuffed shirt villains that our comedic heroes can effectively “pants” and show what pulpy villainy actually looks like. As absurd as it can feel, this what happens when you actually take what the characters’ given absurdity and make it real. So where Wandavision felt like a half-acknowledgement that futzes its moral core, this in the very least, is full-tilt turning into the wave.

But I also think that there’s incredibly valid criticism if you feel like the film’s taking her character and reducing it to “baby crazy.” I mean, it absolutely does feel jarring. And even though there’s been amazing bright spots, Raimi’s track record with female characters is not great, bob! So I think it’s super valid and if that’s a hard line for you, I fully understand. Really. But I also think Olsen really is having fun with the pulp, which in another way, can just be another shade of a character we’ve gotten to see and not so much a reduction. Moreover, she’s really humanizing Wanda in every scene she can in those moments. I even think the ultimate scenes of reconciliation are handled well - both the one where she’s acting against her other self - and the moment where she realizes how far the darkhold has gone and raises her tower into the sky. Yes, it’s a simple A to B arc, but as much as she fully became the Spookablast witch, it’s ultimately the portrayal of someone who actually scared themselves with how far they fell down the rabbit hole, which is something I never felt like we got in the earlier show.

To be clear, I think there’s a duality here. Because ultimately, I think we’re trading one kind of reductive treatment for another. As much as the show and the movie use different approaches, I think the “baby crazy” element is still there in both. Again, Wanda lost control and tortured an entire town in that very same familial pursuit. But in that version she at least got to show off a massive range of human behavior (including comedic) and here, she just gets to go full Twitchy Witch. It’s not necessarily that I “prefer” the latter, it’s just it feels like a next fun step in a character’s journey and one that actually can say “this character’s behavior is expressly bad, but hey, bad can be fun!” Moreover, I like how the latter impacts the function of the rest of the film. Specifically, how it gets at the notions of inner fear and what drives it within us. I saw lots of people calling this one Marvel’s first “horror movie” after the premiere and while it’s still very much an MCU action adventure, in one way, they are right. Because it's the fear of consequence.

To wit, Raimi’s filmography is filled with punishing morality tales. It’s the idea that one wrong move, one simple decision, often motivated by greed, will result in endless punishment (no film illustrates this more than Drag Me To Hell, but it’s true of even the first two Spider-Man films). It’s all part of the horror craftsman’s instinct. To play up the fear on the inside of the audience that yes, things can go wrong for you. And that you’re right to be scared of that. But here it comes out in this really interesting and surprising way with Strange’s own personal story. Because thus far in the MCU, Strange has been this cocksure, controlled being. “The one who always had to hold the knife,” as this film puts it. But in shaking things loose, we get to see him at the most human he’s even been. Not just because the plot pairs him with a plucky kiddo (god, Raimi loves to go square), but because he’s openly doing things like questioning his happiness, methodology, and role in the universe. It’s not like it’s some big character piece, mind you. But Raimi and the film’s writer Michael Waldron know how to pull off an A to B arc. And after all the adventure, it finally draws the line of development. Strange just stops hiding and tells Christine he loves her, though “I’m not asking to care or be cared for,” he just has to express the succinctity of that feeling and acknowledge the core of the feeling: “I’m afraid.”

It’s honestly one of the most thoughtful and well-pointed character moments I’ve seen in one of these films. It doesn’t just get to the crux of their relationship (PS - I’m grateful McAdams at least gets to blast some demons to hell, she’s been one of the most criminally underutilized talents in the MCU), but it gets at the sudden humbling of a hero. Because it gets at the emotion driving all of it. He’s the man who always holds the knife because he’s afraid to trust. Because like Wanda, he’s afraid of a lack of control. He’s afraid the forces of the world will undo him. And in finally just acknowledging that fear, he can show the range of emotions that hold inside him. It’s a moment that really, genuinely hit me on an emotional level. It’s the thing he learned in trusting the young America. And when followed by the final bowing to Benedict Wong’s Sorcerer Supreme and loving acknowledgement of their friendship, I felt like something meaningful was actually created here. Moreover, Raimi knows the most humbling act of all is always going to be a consequence. And for going into the darkhold, we know what happens when you grab a book in one of his films, thus, it ends with his third eye opening in horror. All part of a reminder that this character’s path shall always be more cosmically unhinged than others… Which brings to the final interesting crux.

Christopher Reeve said something I’ve always adored, which is that the thing that defines his Superman is that “he is a friend.” For that character, it’s pretty perfect. And I could talk forever about the way that character’s been represented, but that’s not the point of me bringing it up. My point is NOT every character is supposed to be like superman. Heck, the whole point of having all these different characters is to experience a range of human behaviors that bring us to different places, especially weird ones. And when we talk about characters like Stephen Strange and The Scarlet Witch, we really can travel to the most cosmic, unhinged, and silver age-y spaces of horror that, thus far, have only been hinted at, but never really imbued with meaning. Which just reveals how much this film finally goes against the MCU’s larger buddy-buddy treatment of all its characters. And thus, serves as a crucial reminder that…

These are not your friends.

Nor should they be extensions of us, as if mere vehicles for our indulgence.

I know that may sound like I’m being harsh, but I mean it as a grounding reminder. These characters are demigods. And the larger tradition of demigod storytelling is all about the lessons of fate, tragic tales, and the cost of pride and selfishness. This was the center-point of Raimi’s Spider-Man films and yet it’s been the thing that the MCU has most ignored, to the point it feels like it’s always putting its hands over its ears and just going “la la la can’t hear you.” But hey, they’ve rode this difference to almost impossible success. I get why it's so damn appealing. Just as I get that one could easily look at all the things I’ve written about the MCU in the past bunch of years and be like, “of course you like this film, you’ve haven’t been as into the rest of them as us!” To which I don’t really know how to argue against that. I acknowledge I have a sense of distance with these characters and am probably not invested in the same exact way - though I’m still invested in my own way - I want to see them REALLY go through things. I want the films to have teeth. And when it happens, it doesn’t upset me. But I understand why some people may be upset. And I fully acknowledge this film has problems, but by jove, they’re different problems than usual. So yes, I like how much this film broke the mold. I like Raimi’s whipping camera work. I like the gnarly fun. I like the moments of ick. I like the pulpy villainy. And I like what it ultimately does with Strange’s character, who is honestly a character I hadn’t glommed onto at all before those final moments. I like that it was finally willing to be unlikable. And even if you don’t like it, I hope you can at least appreciate what it’s trying to get at, however successful you may think it might be.  Because fun things open up in those spaces of appreciation, like the single greatest, tongue and cheek end credit sting in any of these dang movies.

“It’s over!

<3HULK