Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Writen by Peter McGinn on June 29, 2022

Obviously this film came loaded with the usual great special effects and endless battle scenes that I guess are needed to draw and hold your average superhero movie fan. Not so much of the Marvel wit and humor that are more like to hold me, the anything but average fan, or rather,not a fan at all, though I do like science fiction. For me, the 500 pound elephant in the room that cast a shadow over the entire movie was the villain. Now if you haven’t seen the film yet this may count as a spoiler, though it is revealed fairly early on. But the former heroine turned evil one is a woman taken over by the dark side. But what got me was her motive. Not to take over the world or the universe or the multiverse, but rather because she wanted to be a mommy to kids she lost along the way, or never had, or something. Billions of people in multiple universes died because she didn’t want to adopt. It seems like inserting herself into one universe might have been enough for you or me, but I suppose she wanted more options open if something went wrong with the first kids whose mother she killed (or is it her alternate self?) to get hold of. Dr. Strange even asked about it once, and she blithely explained that if her new old kids got terribly sick, she could find the cure for anything in other universes. She is the perfect mom, doing anything for her kids; well, except for providing moral leadership and showing them the path to be a good person who helps others and contributes to the world around them. Yeah, do as I say, kids, not as I do. Whoever created the evil dark book that took over her personality would have been disappointed that it was used merely to seed a new family.