If you were excited for Doctor Strange to face a famous squid monster, you probably
left "Doctor Strange 2" disappointed.
And if you were excited about a certain fan-cast character, you might've been upset too.
These are the moments in the "Doctor Strange" sequel that upset fans the most.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
A lot of the marketing for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" made it seem
like a monster movie, with a particular one-eyed, eight-tentacled creature looking like the
potential big bad.
Some fans were already annoyed that Marvel referred to the character as Gargantos and
not Shuma-Gorath.
The latter is one of Doctor Strange's classic adversaries from the comics, while the former
is an obscure sea creature of little narrative significance.
Marvel couldn't call the beast Shuma-Gorath in the film (or sell any subsequent merchandise)
because the studio doesn't own the rights to that name, so filmmakers essentially brought
the Shuma-Gorath design to life as Gargantos.
No matter what you call it, the monster doesn't turn out to be of much consequence to the
story.
It's pretty easily dispatched near the beginning of the film when Doctor Strange, using giant
projections of hands, picks up a street lamp and impales it right in its giant peeper.
The eyeball, with a disgusting amount of viscera still attached, splooshes to the street below
in one of several moments that might be too much for some viewers to stomach.
Mostly, fans who were looking forward to a creature-heavy feature were disappointed that
Gargantos came and went so quickly, and some were surprised that Wanda was, in fact, the
movie's true villain.
On a related note, some viewers criticized the CGI in the Garagantos battle, though others
praised the overall design.
The movie is called "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," but for some fans
and critics, there weren't enough universes and there wasn't enough madness.
We only see the multiverse depicted in its full, trippy glory in one sequence that was
already heavily featured in the trailer.
Doctor Strange and America Chavez travel through several universes — including a paint world
and one full of dinosaurs — in a matter of seconds, but they spend most of the runtime
in just a few.
There's Earth-616, Earth-838, the universe that collapsed in on itself from an incursion,
and the Gap Junction where the Book of Vishanti is kept safe, which is more like a space between
realities.
On a film that's ostensibly about infinite universes, that's a pretty modest number.
"I think audiences are going to be startled.
These other realities invite a plethora of all these new characters."
"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is weird, but it definitely could've been
weirder, especially given all the other worlds alluded to in the film.
Honestly, Earth-838 doesn't look much different than Earth-616, except for the abundance of
flowers and greenery.
Marvel has been preparing its audiences for high-concept stories that play with the bounds
of time and space for years now; even casual MCU fans surely could have handled more.
Ultimately, even some fans who liked the film feel that it didn't live up to its title.
For those who knew what to look for and listen for, the trailer for "Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madness" spilled the beans about both the presence of the Illuminati, and Professor
X's place among them.
"We will see what kind of Doctor Strange you are."
Nevertheless, fans still gleefully hypothesized as to who besides Charles Xavier might be
seated in those chairs.
Thanks to the film's title, many correctly assumed it was some other universe's version
of the secret superhero society.
What many – especially non-comics readers – didn't guess was that Earth-838's supposedly
wise council, created and appointed by their own Doctor Strange, would be so condescending
and short-sighted about the threat Wanda posed.
In addition to Professor X, the Illuminati consists of Karl Mordo, Black Bolt, Captain
Carter, Reed Richards, and Maria Rambeau's Captain Marvel.
When America Chavez and Doctor Strange 616 burst into their universe and start looking
for the Sanctum, Mordo feigns surprise and delight before taking them prisoner.
Richards gets Strange up to speed about how the Illuminati defeated their Thanos, then
delivers the bad news that they've decided that he — meaning every Strange variant
— is the most dangerous being in the multiverse.
Their concern isn't unfounded; 838's Strange used the Darkhold to dreamwalk and killed
a trillion people in an incursion.
The Illuminati have no doubt they can handle Wanda, who they quickly dismiss.
Their righteous smugness and failure to listen – which is admittedly on brand – taints
their characters, and it also makes what comes next frustratingly predictable.
Anyone who hoped to see more than a few minutes of the Illuminati in "Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madness" will have those hopes viciously dashed once the Scarlet Witch arrives.
Reed Richards — who is supposed to be the smartest man alive — overconfidently stands
up to her and stupidly gives away their secret weapon.
He says that Black Bolt could destroy her with a single whisper from his mouth, which
is all the information Wanda needs to destroy them.
Black Bolt's death is probably the most gruesome in a movie that contains more than a handful
of brutal and controversial kills.
Wanda erases his mouth from his face, which panics him into imploding his own brain.
She then turns Reed into spaghetti, cuts Captain Carter in half with her own shield, and snaps
Professor Xavier's neck with her mind.
Even if you don't mind seeing these characters bite the dust so easily, their deaths are
unusually disturbing by the standards of the MCU.
For some fans, though, it's not the violence that's the problem, but rather the immediacy
with which the Illuminati are dispatched — a decision that makes their inclusion in the
plot feel more like surface-level fan service.
John Krasinski's short stint as Reed Richards seems to have simultaneously thrilled and
upset everyone on the internet.
Fans of the actor have been lobbying for him to play the MCU's version of the character
for years.
Krasinski himself has repeatedly expressed interest in joining the MCU, particularly
as Reed Richards.
So when the "Office" alum shows up as Mr. Fantastic in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse
of Madness," it's a pretty big moment.
"And finally there's this four paneller, which I have to appreciate as it’ll be the closest
I ever get to playing a comic book hero."
However, many of the same fans who were so excited to see Krasinski in the role weren't
so happy when, only moments after his first appearance, Wanda rips him to shreds with
her Chaos Magic.
Some have taken solace in the fact that Earth-838 is only one reality in an infinite multiverse,
which means that Krasinski could (and likely will) reprise the role in the MCU's upcoming
"Fantastic Four" film.
Some of the actor's fans were even pushing for him to direct the movie, especially after
the original slated director, Jon Watts, stepped away from the production.
At this point, however, few official announcements regarding "Fantastic Four" have been made.
Of course, Krasinski isn't everyone's choice to play Reed Richards.
Some fans just disagree that he's a good fit for the part, while others are put off by
the role that fan-casting seems to have played in his selection.
For them, Mr. Fantastic's violent comeuppance was satisfying, and it gives fans who'd prefer
to see someone else in the role a little bit of hope, at least until more news breaks about
the cast of "Fantastic Four."
Some audiences have taken issue with what, to them, seems like a major continuity problem
created by "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."
When Strange is brought before the Illuminati, he learns that they, not the Avengers, are
the mightiest heroes of their universe, and that they have much more working knowledge
of the multiverse than those in his home reality, which they refer to as Earth-616.
Marvel Studios surely intended for this numerical designation to be an homage to the Marvel
comics, where the primary universe is also called Earth-616.
The MCU is known to pull story elements and shot compositions straight from the pages
of the comics, but a lot of what happens in the films isn't remotely the same as the source
material.
Also, the main MCU timeline has previously been referred to as Earth-199999.
As such, the MCU's use of the 616 number has angered some fans and confused others.
There's also an additional continuity problem stemming from "Spider-Man: Far from Home."
In that film, Mysterio tells Peter Parker about the multiverse and calls the Avengers'
reality "Dimension 616," claiming that he himself is from "Earth-833"
"There are multiple realities, Peter.
This is Earth, dimension 616.
I'm from Earth-833."
This complicates things for a few reasons.
First, Mysterio's story of being from a different universe is a complete lie.
Second, why would Mysterio and the Illuminati — people in completely different dimensions
who've never met — both choose 616 as the designator for the main MCU timeline?
On top of all that, Marvel seems hesitant to draw concrete distinctions between words
like "dimension," "universe," and "reality," all of which are used in different ways but
also seemingly interchangeably throughout the MCU.
When the trailer footage for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" included shots
of Zombie Strange, many fans assumed he'd be a nefarious presence that Doctor Strange
would have to face off against.
So when Zombie Strange ends up being a good guy, it's a surprising and refreshing twist.
However, the plot mechanics that make Zombie Strange possible have caused some division.
When Doctor Strange figures out what he has to do to defeat Wanda, he tasks the Christine
of Earth-838 with protecting his body.
While his consciousness is in the reanimated corpse, she has to defend his physical form
against the Souls of the Damned, who rise in objection to the sorcerer possessing a
dead body.
Poor Christine gets little time to prepare and no instruction on exactly how to fight
them off, which some fans felt amounted to shoddy writing.
The scene does give Raimi an opportunity to sample from his previous work in films like
"Army of Darkness" and "Drag Me to Hell", but audiences who haven't seen those movies
won't benefit from the references.
The result is a sequence that can be wildly entertaining, but also more than a little
confusing.
In one of the best exchanges in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," Wanda calmly
argues that it doesn't seem fair that both she and Strange have broken the rules in the
past, yet he gets to remain a hero while she's painted as the villain.
The Scarlet Witch goes on to do awful, unforgivable things, but at least at this moment in time,
she has a point.
"That doesn't seem fair."
Though Elizabeth Olsen turns in one of the MCU's strongest performances, nailing both
the nuanced, intimate moments and the big evil swings, many fans were surprised and
upset by the fact that, in the end, Wanda isn't redeemed, while Strange is.
The double standard is even more apparent once we learn that the finale's evil Strange
also used the Darkhold to look for universes in which he ended up with Christine.
Granted, Wanda does eventually see reason.
When her twins from Earth-838 appear so terrified of her, she chooses to destroy Mount Wundagore
and all the Darkholds across the multiverse.
Still, Wanda's hard turn from Avenger to power-hungry multiversal menace has rubbed many viewers
the wrong way.
Specifically, some fans didn't appreciate the way Wanda's plotline seemed to play into
toxic tropes about overly emotional women.
The Scarlet Witch does alternate between hero and villain in the comics, but many who love
the character think Elizabeth Olsen's empathetic portrayal is far better than the subpar, stereotypical
writing to which she's long been bound.
Whither Loki?
Prior to the release of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," the multiverse
was mentioned in the "Spider-Man" movies and alluded to at the end of "WandaVision."
It's also the whole point of "Marvel's What If...?"
and a major driver of "Loki" Season 1.
Because Michael Waldron, who wrote "Loki," also wrote the script for "Multiverse of Madness,"
it seemed reasonable to expect some kind of tie-in between the two.
The multiverse — in concept and name — clearly breaks open by the end of "Loki" Season 1,
and the introduction of Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains – AKA Kang – foreshadows
a wider multiverse plotline down the road.
Kevin Feige has confirmed that the events of the "Loki" Season 1 finale allow "Spider-Man:
No Way Home" and "Multiverse of Madness" to happen.
With all that in mind, plenty of fans were crossing their fingers that we'd see Kang,
Loki, Sylvie, or some other reference to the Disney+ series in "Doctor Strange 2."
Alas, it wasn't to be.
"Loki" didn't end up having a glorious purpose as far as "Multiverse of Madness" is concerned,
which some savvy MCU theorists predicted well ahead of time.
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