This article contains spoilers to Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
The horror aspect of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was promised by director Sam Raimi and he very much delivered on this front. The movie’s premise was of Doctor Strange and America Chavez hopping across the multiverse, but it was the evil actions of the characters that made the plotline possible.
In addition to Scarlet Witch’s rampage across different realities, the acts committed by the likes of the Illuminati and variants of Doctor Strange were also rooted in evil. With so much wicked activity going on, it’s worth stacking them up and looking at which actions were more terrible than others to get a sense of what everyone’s motivations were.
Doctor Strange's Use Of Necromancy
Doctor Strange had to resort to using the Darkhold to reach across the multiverse and revive the dead body of Defender Strange. Although he did what he had to, this still qualified as an evil act since Doctor Strange had to take on the corruption of the Darkhold that had turned Sinister Strange evil.
Moreover, Doctor Strange controlled the evil entities that rose up from the Darkhold, meaning he was using dark magic. It was a necessary evil for him to get to America and Scarlet Witch, so his actions can be forgiven, especially since he had to suffer the toll later on when he developed a third eye.
Defender Strange's Betrayal Of America
Among the most shocking things that happened in Doctor Strange 2 was Defender Strange’s attempt to slay America. The latter had considered him as her closest friend, which made his attempt at her life all the more heinous. While he only did it to stop Gargantos from fleeing with America’s power, Defender Strange didn’t appear too sad about it.
In fact, Defender Strange was in the middle of a self-righteous speech while taking on America’s life force when Gargantos pierced him with its tendril. Defender Strange’s betrayal established that even a supposedly good man can turn to the dark side when he thinks he’s out of options.
Karl Mordo's Attempted Assassination On Doctor Strange
Another one of the unexpected developments in Doctor Strange 2 was the absence of MCU’s Karl Mordo, with the Earth-838 Mordo taking his role as the villain. He fooled Doctor Strange and America into thinking he was an ally before drugging the pair to take them to the Illuminati.
His true evil came out when Mordo attempted to kill Doctor Strange when the rest of the Illuminati were getting slaughtered by Scarlet Witch. Mordo had no qualms about killing a defenseless man in shackles. Moreover, his attempted assassination was purely out of his resentment for the Earth-838 Doctor Strange (so Mordo was going to kill someone he didn’t even know).
Scarlet Witch's Destruction Of Kamar-Taj's Forces
Scarlet Witch’s turn toward villainy truly began at Kamar-Taj when she decimated the Masters of the Mystic Arts. The sorcerers had done nothing against her and were noble enough to defend America, someone they had never met before. Scarlet Witch not only killed many sorcerers, but appeared to enjoy the sensation.
She was visibly satisfied with the way she struck fear into the minds of the Masters of the Mystic Arts and killed them in creatively violent ways when she could’ve easily incapacitated them. Scarlet Witch became irredeemable from here on out since she took to slaughtering people who meant no harm to her.
The Illuminati's Cover-Up Of Their Doctor Strange's Elimination
Fans didn’t have much time to note all the members of the Illuminati since Scarlet Witch arrived to kill them in gruesome ways. However, the Illuminati was guilty of hubris and its members were borderline villains themselves, given that they had murdered their Doctor Strange.
The Illuminati’s judgments came across as something of a kangaroo court process, in that they would take someone’s life if they deemed it fit. They were happy to accept Earth-838 Doctor Strange’s help to finish off Thanos’ threat but acted high and mighty later on to sentence him to death for causing an incursion in another reality. If the Illuminati were the good guys, they should have tried themselves for executing people based on unfair judgments.
Scarlet Witch's Brutal Elimination Of The Illuminati
While the Illuminati got what was coming to them at the hands of Scarlet Witch, the latter was by no means a hero for her actions. Scarlet Witch would’ve done the same thing if it were anyone else, which leaves no excuse for the brutal manner with which she killed the Illuminati.
She sadistically caused Black Bolt to lose his mouth to make his head explode and spliced Mister Fantastic painfully when he just wanted to restrain her. Scarlet Witch’s evilest move here was to kill Professor X since he only wanted to rescue the variant Wanda, but had his neck snapped for his efforts.
Sinister Strange's Destruction Of His Reality
The idea of incursions and destroyed realities are among the ways Doctor Strange 2 sets up the future of the MCU, with Sinister Strange having gone through it. He revealed that he’d used the Darkhold to find a reality where he could be with Christine, only to learn that none of his variants were successful at it.
Sinister Strange took to killing his variants out of bitterness for their ability to move on, but this caused an incursion in his universe that exterminated all of life. The fact that such destruction came for petty resentment on Sinister Strange’s part and his complete lack of remorse went to show just how evil he’d become.
Scarlet Witch's Attempt To Steal Her Variant's Family
Scarlet Witch may have caused many deaths in the film, but her evilest act was to steal a mother’s children - her own variant’s in this case. Scarlet Witch claimed she didn’t want to hurt anyone unless they stood in her way, but the variant of Wanda was always going to die because Scarlet Witch wanted her life.
Doctor Strange and Wong pointed out how hypocritical it was for Scarlet Witch to argue about her need to be a mother when she was planning to steal someone else’s children. It was ultimately when she was rejected by a scared Billy and Tommy that Scarlet Witch realized how villainous she’d truly, making her unable to live with all the evil things she’d done to get there.