Madness is as good a word for it as any. People we have called heroes dance across the line between good and evil as they seek to fulfill their goals. But are their actions justified? Could they have achieved their objectives any other way? The Marvel Cinematic Universe turns to darkness in the latest offering, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
This month Eve and I reviewed the Doctor Strange sequel and were surprised by the direction the MCU has taken with this new movie. Join us as we discuss what we liked and what we didn’t. We’ll also dive into some of the themes we picked up in the movie, like: do the ends ever justify the means? Why are books so frequently associated with power? And what good are dreams?
**Due to the nature of the movie, we will not be trying to avoid spoilers for this episode. If you wish to avoid spoilers, please stop reading now and return after you’ve watched the movie.**
Initial Impressions
This movie was interesting because it was like Infinity War or Endgame, which were exciting and engaging but not necessarily purely enjoyable. Neither of us felt like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the fun romp that movies like Antman or the Spiderman movies were, and it did have more objectionable material than perhaps any of the MCU movies to date. However, we can thank director Sam Rami for turning to the dark side for a good portion of that.
The music of Multiverse of Madness is composed by the prolific Danny Elfman, one of the House of Mouse’s go-to masters of music. He always does a good job matching the music to the scene, the feel to the emotion. In the case of Multiverse of Madness, there are more than a few scenes that seem to, not surprisingly, dip into madness, and Elfman’s music matches those scenes appropriately.
Like the rest of the MCU, Multiverse of Madness is tied inextricably to the other MCU offerings. Interestingly, this one is both heavily dependent—and strangely dismissive—of the Wandavision storyline from the Disney+ series.
Multiverse of Madness earned a PG13 rating for theatrical release, but Rami’s direction for the movie is more Evil Dead and less Spider-man. I would argue that a few scenes in Multiverse of Madness cross the gore line from a PG13 to an R rating. It may not have been realistic, but it is not the campy gore of the 1970s slasher films. For this movie, we recommend you “watch with care.”
Eve came out of the movie with a distaste for one of the main characters, America Chavez. Unfortunately, thanks to her lack of meaningful character development, she felt more like a token plot device than a person. Even though this is a Doctor Strange movie, we feel like they could have done her character more justice than they did.
The other major character in Multiverse of Madness is Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. The Scarlet Witch. The problem that we had with her role in this movie is that it seemed to throw away all her character development and redemption arch from Wandavision. She had no remorse for her actions in Westview. Worse, any hint of the hero we’d seen in the previous movies was gone. Thanks to her corrupting use of the Darkhold, and despite her motivations, in Multiverse of Madness , she was utterly evil. This story direction choice is the primary reason I did not enjoy Multiverse of Madness .
Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as Doctor Strange is on point, as always. But, of course, Strange’s arrogance sometimes makes him a hard character to like. In that regard, Multiverse of Madness was no different.
Are You Happy?
The question “Are you happy?’ comes up at least five times during Multiverse of Madness, usually asked of Doctor Strange. In fact, it comes up so many times, with so many mindless answers, that the answer’s potential was utterly diluted. It seems like the only honest answer we receive is when Doctor Strange asks the question of Wong:
Doctor Stephen Strange: …I do want to ask you something. Are you happy?
Wong: That’s an interesting question.
Strange: You’d think that saving the world would get you there, but it doesn’t.
Wong: Sometimes, I do wonder of my other lives. Yet I remain grateful in this one, even with each tribulation.
This recurring question brought us back to Eve and my first episode together, Episode 44: Pursuit of Happyness. It reminds us of the difference between happiness and joy. As Christians, our very identity, happiness included, is found in Christ. So that is our answer to that question. We see our joy in Christ, even when we struggle, even when we may not be happy. Paul confirms this strange idea for us:
I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions. (2 Corinthians 7:4)
During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. (2 Corinthians 8:2)
There is a great deal of discussion and disagreement online about if joy and happiness are the same things. What it seems to come down to, at least in my mind, is that happiness is about stuff that happens for you. It’s a selfish feeling. Joy, however, is what you exude—it’s a fruit of the spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. (Galatians 5: 22-23)
I’m not a monster . . . I’m a mother
In Multiverse of Madness , Wanda has gone full-dark-side, like Anakin slaughtering the younglings at the palace. Throughout the movie, she either directly killed or caused the deaths of countless innocents and heroes alike. Yet she justified all her actions by claiming that she is just trying to get back to her [mostly imaginary] children.
It’s understood in Multiverse of Madness that Wanda is under the influence of the Darkhold. In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the Mandarin was influenced by the whispers of a demon behind the seal. In the Disney+ series Hawkeye, the mysterious Valentina Allegra de Fontaine manipulates Yelena through lies and deceit. Even the Eternals are kept ignorant of their true mission until it is almost too late to stop. This seems to be the theme of Phase 4: manipulation and deceit. It should be interesting to see where it goes.
But, back to Wanda.
As far as Eve and I are concerned, we are 100% convinced: Wanda is not a mother; she is a monster.
Still, Wanda’s claim does beg the question: Is a mother justified for evil when it’s for the love of her children? It is the question of the “mama bear.” When a mother is violent in defense of her children, is violence justified? Legally, it seems that the answer is “yes,” so long as the level of response is reasonable. But what about a Christian’s response? Is protecting our children a greater responsibility than our requirement to glorify God? As difficult as it may seem to be, the answer is no. We see examples in both history and, sadly, in current events of men and women whose children were harmed or killed because the parents refused to recant their faith in God.
Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble, not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8-9)
Wanda wasn’t even trading evil for evil; no one did any evil to her. She had her desire and used her ungodly power to smite anyone who got in her way.
If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never depart from his house. (Proverbs 17:13)
America Chavez did nothing wrong—to anyone. But Wanda sought to kill her and take her power to fulfill her demented desire for her imaginary family.
When I think of what it means to be a mother, I usually go back to our definition of a Godly woman:
Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come. Her mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her: “Many women have done noble deeds, but you surpass them all!” (Proverbs 31:25-29)
Wanda is not trying to rise to these standards. She is utterly selfish and thoroughly evil.
The Ends Justify the Means
The difference between Strange and Wanda in the Multiverse of Madness is not as significant as we thought. The only real difference is that our Doctor Strange doesn’t kill people to complete his mission. But, of course, that isn’t too far off from his ethos. Not only did we see, in Spider-man: No Way Home, that he was willing to send half a dozen people “back” to their ultimate deaths, but in Multiverse of Madness, we see alternate universe Defender Strange begin to sacrifice America Chavez to keep her power from their pursuer. First, when a street food vendor threatens Doctor Strange with the minor threat of mustard to the face, he curses the man to punch himself in the face for three continuous weeks. Then, in what seems to be the most egregious violation, Strange turns to the Darkhold to not only dream-walk, clearly aware that doing so risks the deaths of trillions, but dream walks into a corpse, an action he knows is “forbidden.”
The Heidelberg Catechism, question 111, asks, “What does God require of you in [the 8th] commandment?” The answer is particularly applicable to Strange’s actions in Multiverse of Madness. It says, “I must promote my neighbor’s good wherever I can and may, deal with him as I would like others to deal with me, and work faithfully so that I may be able to give to those in need.” Strange may think that he is playing the hero and promoting his neighbors’ good, but as Mordo warned Strange in the first movie:
Do you still think there will be no consequences, Strange? No price to pay? We broke our rules, just like her. The bill comes due. Always. A reckoning.
In the end, Doctor Strange is convinced that he is always right, and when rules forbid the action he wants to take, he disregards them. Strange continues to consider himself the ultimate authority. This is one of his defining character traits. He considers himself the arbiter of all laws and regulations, able to set them aside if he feels his need is more significant. He’s being wholly selfish and ignoring the fact that society established rules to protect itself, not necessarily people. We follow laws because it allows us and others to anticipate what people around us will do from moment to moment. They keep us safe from others and from ourselves.
Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor. – 1 Peter 2:13-17
So do the ends never justify the means? It’s not really that clear-cut. We see a few places in scripture where God’s people use deceit for God’s purposes:
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. At nightfall, when the city gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!” (Joshua 2:4–5)
David took this to heart and became very afraid of King Achish of Gath, so he pretended to be insane in their presence. He acted like a madman around them, scribbling on the doors of the city gate and letting saliva run down his beard. “Look! You can see the man is crazy,” Achish said to his servants. “Why did you bring him to me? Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me? Is this one going to come into my house?” (1 Samuel 21:12–15)
Whether or not these are sins that had to be forgiven or if the goal of God’s fulfilled will justify the use of deceit, we need to test any course of action against God’s revealed word.
The Books of Power
Before we started our recording for this episode, Chris, a listener for the UK, made an excellent point about the appearance of books as a source of power:
@christmasturner: Re Dr Strange and the Multiverse of madness, I had a thought about the use of books in this film. The first book we see if the Vishanti, the so called Good Book that will allow the reader to do whatever they want. I found it interesting that this was always out of reach, never used and elevated on a pedestal. I wondered if this is how people can sometimes want to use the Bible, wanting to take things out of context and use them to support whatever they want. The purpose of the Bible is never what we want, but what God wants and it’s only pointing to Him. I’m going to ignore that they say the Darkhold is a bad book (Dr Strange uses it, so it can’t be all bad) but that it is one of the books of power. I found it interesting that both the villain and the hero use the same thing to different effects. This reminded me of Matthew 4 where the enemy uses scripture to tempt Jesus.
Chris makes a good point. As Bible-believing Christians, we know the Word of God to be more than just a book, but a God-breathed special revelation for us:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!” We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:16-21)
If you are interested, you can check out the podcast that Eve calls out, “TimCast IRL.”
“That wasn’t a dream. It was another universe.”
One last thing.
During the course of Multiverse of Madness, America Chavez tosses out a “fact” for the Multiverse that has incredible implications:
Dreams are the windows into the lives of our multiversal selves
This one bugs me. It’s like stealing from God. Dreams are used prophetically 21 times in scripture, and those times to support God’s plan for his people. To claim that all dreams “are windows into the lives of our multiversal selves,” is to challenge both the idea that dreams can be the subconscious processing, the brain’s unwinding, or the province of God.
And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. (Acts 2:17)
It’s not like we can expect movies from the MCU to be theologically accurate, so this can be considered nitpicking. But, it is worth mentioning.
Conclusion
While neither of us thoroughly enjoyed the Multiverse of Madness, it did have a lot to discuss. Rather than feeling like we had a good time, we felt the movie scrambled our brains a bit. In the end, though, this is a case where you should beware. As listener, Justin Pierce pointed out:
Watched a movie about a demonic witch who murdered everyone so she could slaughter the “lesbian hero” who guided the antihero through different levels of hell (dimensions, including lesbian world where she was from) so that he could use the demonic powers to fight the demonic witch.
Use your best judgment with Multiverse of Madness. If the idea of magic as a plot device worries you, steer away. If slasher-film gore is not your thing, you may want to avoid Multiverse of Madness. On the other hand, if it is important to you to stay up to date with the fourth phase of the MCU, go into the viewing prepared to think critically and not just watch.
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