Which cameo in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" will leave fans who aren't comics
readers scratching their heads?
And which one will make Sam Raimi fans scream with delight?
Keep watching for our ranking from worst to best.
As you might suspect, it's all spoilers from here.
In the mid-credits scene of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," Doctor Strange
is greeted on the street by a woman in purple with long blonde hair, insisting he go with
her to fix a new multiversal incursion.
This character, played by Charlize Theron, gets no real introduction, which is sure to
confuse a lot of viewers not familiar with the "Doctor Strange" comics.
The credits confirm that Theron's character is Clea, who hails from the Dark Dimension
and is niece of Dormammu.
Given the character's romantic history with Doctor Strange, there's certainly plenty of
potential for Clea to be a great character in future movies, and the idea of Theron joining
the MCU might be enough of a tease for viewers who don't read comics.
But that doesn't make the cameo itself any more coherent.
Rintrah is a green minotaur and one of the sorcerers at Kamar-Taj.
While he may be more of a minor supporting character than a cameo, exactly, his presence
is odd enough to elicit the same sort of "Who is that?"
response.
Since Rintrah receives no proper introduction, some viewers might wonder if they forgot him
from the first "Doctor Strange'' movie.
But neither he nor any member of his alien species have appeared in the MCU before now.
He's just there because Marvel had the extra effects budget for a CGI minotaur, it seems.
In a way, it's kind of impressive that Marvel Studios has made audiences so accustomed to
comic book weirdness that a giant green minotaur alien can show up without even being remarked
upon.
The robots at the Illuminati headquarters don't look exactly like the Ultron MCU fans
are familiar with, but one of them can be heard making commands in the name of Ultron
when Scarlet Witch first makes her attack.
The credits confirm these robots are indeed meant to be alternate universe versions of
Ultron, played by the character's "What If...?"
voice actor Ross Marquand.
"I see everything.
There are worlds beyond my own.
Worlds that need me."
The alternate Ultrons' presence does present some interesting world-building for this alternate
universe.
Clearly they didn't try to kill all humans like the one in "Age of Ultron," so one has
to wonder how they came to be.
Were they created by Tony Stark like on Earth-616?
Perhaps they were a project of Reed Richards and the Baxter Foundation, or maybe they're
a Hank Pym creation like in the original comics.
On Earth-616, Maria Rambeau was Carol Danvers' best friend on Earth.
"WandaVision" revealed she died of cancer during the Blip, so it's nice to see her again
as the Captain Marvel of the Illuminati universe.
Like all the members of the Illuminati, she's killed by Scarlet Witch fairly easily, and
her death is perhaps the most frustrating of the bunch.
Director Sam Raimi's willingness to risk fan anger by killing off characters is one of
the strong points of "Multiverse of Madness," but the way Rambeau's death is handled is
pretty weak.
Captain Marvel is supposed to be one of the strongest superheroes around, yet this version
of her is simply dispatched by a falling statue.
Surely there could have been a more intense and scary death scene that didn't minimize
her power.
"What If...?"
built up Captain Carter, a Peggy Carter variant who took the super soldier serum instead of
Steve Rogers, to be a key character.
Given the appearances of her shield in trailers, it's not particularly surprising, but still
really cool to see Hayley Atwell get a chance to play Captain Carter in live-action in "Multiverse
of Madness."
Like the other Illuminati members, Captain Carter's screen time is fairly brief.
But it's structured effectively, with a fun action scene paralleling Rogers' famous…
"I can do this all day."
moment.
She's killed in the most brutal and ironic way possible: by her own shield.
The short-lived "Inhumans" TV show was a pretty infamous flop, so seeing Anson Mount's Black
Bolt show up as part of the Illuminati comes as a surprise.
Bolt's emergence from a rare MCU misstep might be why Strange seems to target him with his
sardonic humor.
His death also makes him seem not too bright.
Black Bolt's words can kill.
In a flashback to the Illuminati dispatching their universe's Doctor Strange, it's his
"I'm sorry" that finishes him off.
This power is turned against him by Scarlet Witch, who cleverly removes his mouth just
as he is about to speak.
The sound gets locked inside his skull, which explodes from the inside.
Casting John Krasinski as Mister Fantastic in "Multiverse of Madness" is either the ultimate
fan service or the ultimate troll.
There's no official word of who will play Reed Richards in the forthcoming "Fantastic
Four" MCU entry, but casting Krasinski here matches up with some of the most popular fancasts.
This version of Mr. Fantastic doesn't last long.
He's the second Illuminati member killed by Scarlet Witch when she essentially shreds
his body into string cheese.
If Krasinski indeed returns as the Reed of Earth-616, this could be an unorthodox introduction
to one of the next great MCU heroes.
Like John Travolta in "Pulp Fiction," audiences will have watched him die well before his
story is over.
Rather than reprising the incarnation of the character he played in the Fox "X-Men" films,
Patrick Stewart seems to be playing the version of Professor X from the '90s "X-Men" animated
series, given the design of his chair and the music that plays during his introduction.
"Open your mind."
Stewart as Xavier is a perfect bit of fan service which will appeal to multiple generations
of Marvel fans.
The character's psychic powers make him seemingly the ideal match to face the mental manipulations
of the Scarlet Witch.
If any of the Illuminati could win the battle against her, it would have been him, which
makes his death all the more intense and upsetting.
For all the Marvel fan service scattered throughout "Multiverse of Madness," the best thing about
the movie is just how strongly director Sam Raimi's sensibility shines throughout.
There's wild cinematography, wacky funhouse horror, and, of course, a cameo from Bruce
Campbell.
Campbell made his big break as Ash Williams, the hero of Raimi's "Evil Dead" series, and
the actor continues to play ridiculous parts in the director's other films.
His part in "Multiverse of Madness" is a parallel-universe pizza ball salesman named Pizza Poppa, whom
Doctor Strange afflicts with a curse that forces him to beat himself up in a clear "Evil
Dead" reference.
The film's post-credits scene catches up with Pizza Poppa as the curse finally wears off,
a funny bit that's also strangely satisfying.
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