Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

"Things just got out of hand..."

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a 2022 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Doctor Strange. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Doctor Strange and the 28th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It also serves as a sequel to WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home, as well as a crossover/sequel to 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series, Tim Story's Fantastic Four duology, the Blade trilogy and the Ghost Rider duology. The film sees Strange (Cumberbatch) protecting America Chavez (Gomez), a teenager capable of traveling the multiverse, from Wanda Maximoff (Olsen). The film was directed by Sam Raimi, written by Raimi, his older brother Ivan and Zak Penn, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, alongside Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Rachel McAdams.

Plot[]

In the Gap Junction, a plane between universes, America Chavez and a version of Stephen Strange called Defender Strange are chased by a demon while searching for the Book of Vishanti. In an attempt to stop the demon, Strange attempts to steal Chavez’s power of multiversal travel, while being aware that the process would kill her. However, the demon kills Strange during the process, and Chavez, in fear, inadvertently opens a portal to Earth-199999, nicknamed Earth-616, which she and Strange’s corpse fall through.

Stephen Strange, who had been suffering nightmares in the months since helping out Peter Parker, wakes up from another nightmare and dresses up to attend Christine Palmer’s wedding, where he's been invited as a guest. There, he makes amends with his former rival Nicodemus West and reminisces about the time he spent with Palmer, but she insists that the relationship would’ve failed regardless. During the celebration, a gigantic tentacled monster named Gargantos begins to terrorize the streets of New York. Wong arrives at the scene from Kamar-Taj, and they kill Gargantos together by gouging its eye out. Strange and Wong learn that Chavez was been hunted by these demons, who sought her multiversal traveling powers. As proof of her claims, she takes them to the alternate Strange's corpse to prove that Strange's "nightmare" was actually a peek into his counterpart across the Multiverse.

Upon recognizing witchcraft runes, Strange consults the help of former Avenger Wanda Maximoff, who was isolated from the world after the Westview Incident. He tries to ask her about her knowledge of the Multiverse, but soon finds out she is responsible for orchestrating the attacks. He also learns that she is possession of the Darkhold and she had been utilizing it to dreamwalk into her alternate counterpart and spend time with her children, Billy and Tommy, as a way to coupe with her loss. Corrupted by the Darkhold, Maximoff reveals that she is desperate to reunite with her chidren and believed that gaining Chavez's powers would allow her to reunite with her children. She also gives Strange before sundown to surrender Chavez before hunting her down herself. Strange rejects her demands.

As Chavez is over at Kamar-Taj, the Masters of the Mystic Arts fortify the area in preparation for Maximoff's assault with a magic shield and various other defenses. However, Maximoff's telepathy targets one sorcerer and disables his magic, leading the shield to collapse, allowing her to attack Kamar-Taj and kill many sorcerers there. Strange entraps her within the Mirror Dimension, which proves to be ineffective as she escapes using reflections. Cornered, Chavez accidentally opens a portal, allowing herself and Strange to flee across the Multiverse.

Chavez and Strange arrive at Earth-61616, nicknamed Earth-838, one of the many branched universes from Earth-616. While searching for Strange's counterpart for help, Strange and Chavez head to the New York Sanctum from that universe, where they discover that his counterpart had died defeating Thanos previously and are instead greeted by this universe's Sorcerer Supreme: Baron Mordo. Mordo tricks both Strange and Chavez and both of them are brought before the Illuminati, which consists of Mordo, Captain Peggy Carter, Blackagar Boltagon, Captain Maria Rambeau, Reed Richards and Charles Xavier. They believe that Doctor Strange remains the greatest threat in the universe, revealing that their universe's counterpart of Strange had used the Darkhold to look for alternate ways to defeat Thanos. Strange found the Book of Vishanti, which was used to kill Thanos on Titan, but confessed that he had caused an incursion, an event in which a reality is destroyed, and thus volunteered to be executed to prevent further destruction.

At the same time, Maximoff makes use of the Darkhold to dreamwalk into her Earth-838 counterpart in Westview to interact with her children. However, Sara Wolfe manages to destroy the Darkhold, so Maximoff burns her alive in retaliation. Enraged, Maximoff forces Wong to lead her to Mount Wundagore, the source of the Darkhold's power, where she uses the Darkhold Castle's power to dreamwalk back into her counterpart and raids the Illuminati Headquarters in search of Chavez. Before they could vote to execute Strange, the Illuminati leave to respond to the attack, but are easily killed by Maximoff. Xavier enters Maximoff's mind and attempts to liberate her from the Scarlet Witch, but fails as she snaps his neck. Mordo votes to kill Strange himself, who tricks him into destroying his restraints before escaping with the Earth-838 variant of Palmer and Chavez, who was freed by Palmer due to the Illuminati's efforts.

Strange, Chavez, and Palmer enter the Gap Junction to find the Book of Vishanti, but Maximoff quickly destroys it and takes control of Chavez, using her to send Strange and Palmer into an incursion-destroyed universe, while abandoning her alternate self and taking Chavez back to Earth-616. Strange and Palmer head to the destroyed universe's New York Sanctum, where they encounter an alternate version of Strange, who had been corrupted by his copy of the Darkhold and possessed a third eye because of it.

When questioned about the Darkhold, Sinister Strange warns against using it, but Strange ends up engaging in a fight in order to retrieve the book, believing it to be the only way to stop Maximoff, ending with Sinister Strange's death. Strange utilizes the Darkhold to dreamwalk into Defender Strange's body to travel to Mount Wundagore, but he and Palmer are attacked the spirits of the damned inhabiting the Darkhold. Both Strange and Palmer are saved by the Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider, who utilizes his Hellfire powers to neutralize the spirits of the damned. The Rider, who acquired the power of Multiversal travel though the angel Zarathos in the years following the events in Eastern Europe, agrees to help Strange to defeat Maximoff and rescue Chavez.

Just before he and The Rider head to save Chavez, Strange utilizes the Darkhold to communicate with other heroes across the Multiverse through telepathy. He recruits Defender Strange's Spider-Man, whom he helped during the Spider-Man Multiversal Crisis, a mutant named Wolverine, an older variant of Reed Richards, a vampire hunter named Blade and the Earth-838 variant of Carol Danvers, who went by the name of Ms. Marvel. Together, the heroes head to Mount Wundagore, where Strange reunites with Wong and The Rider and Strange take down the Knights of Wundagore. Maximoff teams up with the Karl Mordo from her reality to fight against the heroes while she tries to claim Chavez's power for herself. Mordo utlitzes his magic to summon demons from the castle to fight against the Strange, Wong and the Multiversal heroes, but the demons are taken down and Mordo gets defeated by Strange during their fight. While Blade rescues Chavez, Scarlet Witch easily defeats Wolverine, Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel, but is quickly apprehended by Richards' variant, who tells Strange and Wong to trap Maximoff and neutralize her.

As Maximoff is trapped by Strange's magical barrier, Ghost Rider senses that a powerful entity had be taking control of her. Maximoff breaks free from Strange's imprisonment and defeats both Strange and Wong, but is neutralized by The Rider, who uses the angelic powers of Zarathos on her. The Rider then enters Hell and encounters Mephisto again. Mephisto reveals to The Rider that he had been manipulating Maximoff after she lost her lover, Vision. Utilizing Maximoff's grief, he orchestrated the Westview Incident, influenced her to utilize the Darkhold and manipulated her to assist him in his crusade against the Multiverse in exchange for her children. Mephisto attempts to keep Maximoff under his control, but is quickly defeated by The Rider, who breaks Maximoff out of Mephisto's control afterwards.

With Mephisto gone, The Rider transforms back to Johnny Blaze and explains to Strange and Wong that Maximoff had been controlled by Mephisto. Blaze, being familiar with Mephisto as he signed a deal with him to cure his father's cancer in his universe, approaches Maximoff and comforts her, assuring her that she's been freed from Mephisto's control. Realizing what she has become into, Maximoff is consumed by guilt of her actions and blames herself for her children's deaths, but Blaze, Strange and the other heroes comfort her, sharing their own personal experiences of personal loss to help her cope and realize that she is not alone. Upon coming to terms with losing her children, Maximoff uses her powers to bring down the Darkhold Castle, simultaneously destroying all copies of the Darkhold throughout the multiverse, but utilizes a protective barrier to protect herself, Strange, Wong, Mordo, Blaze, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Richards, Danvers, Blade and Chavez.

Chavez utilizes her powers to locate Strange and Palmer and send to them to their respective universes. Before they both return to their home universes, Strange says goodbye to Palmer and tells her that he will always love her. Returning to Earth-616, Strange, Wong, Chavez and the Multiversal heroes send Maximoff to Clint Barton's Homestead, where she would remain under the care of Clint Barton and his family. The Multiversal heroes part ways with Strange, Wong and Chavez and Kamar-Taj begins to rebuild, with Chavez joining the surviving sorcerers to start her training in the Mystic Arts, while Strange and Wong imprison Mordo through the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.

In the first mid-credit scene, Strange is resting in his quarters, where he begins experiencing a nightmare showcasing the fracturing of the Sacred Timeline, the second Multiversal War, a glimpse of Kang The Conqueror and a woman trapped in the Dark Dimension calling out for his help. Stephen then wakes up and screams in pain as he develops a third eye as a result of utilizing the Darkhold. In the second mid-credit scene, Strange is eating at Joe's Pizza in silence alongside Chavez, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Richards, Blade, Danvers and Blaze prior to the Multiversal heroes returning to their perspective universes, where they encounter Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool, who had been utilizing a time-traveling device to travel through the Multiverse. He greets all of the heroes, only for them to get uncomfortable at his behavior. Deadpool leaves the restaurant, enraged that he couldn't join the battle with them and blaming Kevin Feige for including him in a mid-credit scene.

In a post-credits scene, the Pizza purveyor, who had been enchanted by Strange to punch himself, stops punching himself in the face one the spell expires. Overjoyed, he begins laughing, suddenly turning towards the camera to exclaim "It's over!"