After close to 30 movies, the MCU has something of a problem: preparing to watch new movies now feels like it comes with considerable homework. But what if you just didn't do it? To that end, I put Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to the test to see if it truly works as a standalone by taking a complete MCU newbie along for the ride – does it hold up without WandaVision, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man: No Way Home as reference points?
My Marvel-deprived accomplice simply tapped out a long time ago. "There were just so many things to keep up with, even after the first X-Men movies, that it becomes too much effort," he lamented. "They looked cool, but it was just a lot, and I never connected with them." He's intrigued by properties like Moon Knight that can be enjoyed in isolation and have strong concepts, but his viewpoint highlights a serious consideration for Marvel: It's not like they're struggling for cash, with Doctor Strange 2 clocking up the 8th-highest opening weekend of all time, but at some point, they're going to need new fans. Xochitl Gomez, the 16-year-old newcomer in the Doctor Strange sequel, is 2 years younger than the MCU itself. The next generation of fans – literally so, as teens who went on their first date to see Iron Man in cinemas might well have kids of their own now – need an entry point.
In the interest of superhero science, I threw my unassuming guinea pig in at the deep end and invited him to a post-opening-weekend screening of Doctor Strange 2 – partly out of curiosity, partly due to cruelty, and mostly to test the structural integrity of a sequel 30 films in the making. To a hardened Marvel veteran like myself, the MCU is 33 pieces of a puzzle that it'll only take another 10 years to complete, if it ever is. Sharing popcorn with a complete MCU newbie, it was fascinating to me whether there was a reason to care about any of the characters, understand the motivations, or see the growth and arcs unfolding. Here's how much sense Doctor Strange made without having seen any other Marvel movies.
Doctor Strange 2's Hype Examined: Were You Excited?
What were your impressions of Doctor Strange 2 ahead of the screening? "I mean, I wasn't expecting it to make any sense. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness sounds like a 70s B-movie title, and I haven't heard of these superheroes before. I'm actually not 100% sure why I've agreed to this. It's an event picture, I guess? So the atmosphere in the cinema will be fun at least. But no. I didn't know what stories it was picking up so I had no reason to be excited, even though I checked out the trailer and there were some cool enough visuals going on."
It was pretty clear from the get-go that this Marvel newbie had no reason to be in the cinema without the context. His reactions ahead of seeing the movie showed that Marvel might be "snowballing" their story beats over time, meaning that story beats gain unearned significance due to being way further along in the franchise. Joining the peak of the rollercoaster without the tension of the climb would be nowhere near as fun. Established MCU viewers will lap up most content and forgive the installment as a way to get to the next, rather than being genuinely amped about the concept of a good film. There's no need to be as unconditionally excited about a movie if you're unattached to the overarching story.
Did Doctor Strange 2's Story Make Any Sense?
"To be honest, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness actually wasn't that complicated to follow. It's basically just a series of things happening. The script was full of weird in-universe words I couldn't begin to explain, but the basics of the plot were pretty simple," he said. When asked to reiterate the plot, he answered, "So The Witch Lady's [Wanda/Scarlet Witch] kids vanished to another dimension, and she needs to steal Space Girl's [America Chavez] power to go and live with them. Then, Doctor Strange has to stop her from murdering everyone by using a good book to defeat the bad book? But the good book got killed and Doctor Strange had to fight Doctor Strange With Another Eye and possess his dead body... I think that was the place I just kind of lost the thread a bit. The music fight was good, though."
This was one of the surprising finds – the story of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness genuinely holds up and makes sense as it's not actually that complicated at its core. While there are plenty of superfluous but faithful canon elements that make up the wallpaper of a Marvel movie, comic book stories are a tangle of complicated threads built on very simple foundations. Even if WandaVision can help you compile a clearer picture of Wanda's motivations, grief, and self-reflection, it's not necessary viewing for working out that Wanda is clearly upset about her missing kids, has a wild power level that threatens all of existence, and needs to be stopped. There's certainly enough exposition to clear up any doubts as to what needs doing and why. The extra elements – Clea's Doctor Strange 2 post-credit appearance, the Sorcerer Supreme, even Doctor Strange's own backstory and development, Rintrah the Minotaur's brief cameo – are all fuel for the next time or nods to previous installments/minor comic characters that don't actually add much resonance to the story being told.
Which Doctor Strange 2 Characters Did You Care About?
"I didn't find myself caring about any of the characters in Doctor Strange. Mister Fantastic [or The Fantastic Man, as my friend actually called him] was familiar and thought it was great to see Jim from The Office, but it didn't really feel like a Doctor-Strange-focused film at all. He was sort of a narrator so I didn't really see him as under threat at any time. Space Girl [America Chavez – please forgive him, he's new] didn't get given much to do even though the actor gave a good performance, and Scarlet Witch was the only character I was rooting for in a Death Wish kind of way. I wish she'd spaghettified all of them."
This was also a pretty strong indication of a Phase 4 Marvel problem: the tendency to fracture stories and character arcs over so many different movies that it's hard to emotionally connect to a character within an individual movie. While that is a natural byproduct of franchise moviemaking, it should at least be possible to form a genuine attachment to the characters and root for new ones without needing ten films of context. The Paddington and Toy Story movies don't face this problem, because a great deal of love, care, and intent goes into the construction of each scene, and the emotional stakes have been carefully considered and beautifully rendered. Bar a select few sequels like Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which do fall into the same franchise-focused traps but provide a high-quality product alongside the promise of narrative fulfillment). Marvel needs to start caring again so that new audiences can also find ways to care about what they're seeing.
Would You Go And See Another Marvel Movie?
Having been through an underwhelming experience with Doctor Strange 2, would the MCU newcomer dip a toe into future projects? "Absolutely. The Thor: Love and Thunder trailer looked great. I know not all of these movies are the same, and if it's Taika Waititi directing, I'm totally game and might even watch the movie beforehand to understand it better. I won't be watching another Doctor Strange movie though, now that the Witch is gone."
While this seems like a complete about-turn from everything he'd previously said, it actually provided the most significant insight of the experience. As an MCU movie, Doctor Strange 2 provided a complete emotional void for him: he enjoyed the visuals but felt zero attachment to any character. Yet those pristine Marvel visuals have enough of a pull for the MCU newbie to justify the ticket price for their next tentpole release, despite knowing that he felt unsatisfied. It seems to hit the same part of your brain as getting a social media notification or eating a candy bar, providing an ultimately unconstructive and meaningless endorphin rush that still has audiences looking for the next high despite knowing how little it truly adds - unless you have the context of those other MCU movies (and even then, dedicated Marvel heads like myself have still found themselves unfulfilled yet wanting more). As MCU's Phase 4 continues, Marvel needs to learn that "more" isn't "more nourishing," and that the bubble will eventually burst if they don't start to deliver more alongside their visuals.
Marvel has some promising properties in their roster now, with the almost entirely standalone Moon Knight providing depth, gravitas, unique humor, and genuinely good ideas that don't require an encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel lore. Jessica Jones season 1 is now part of the MCU, albeit retroactively, and that's another brilliantly told standalone tale that plays on your mind. While the Reed Richards cameo in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness was fun, Marvel needs to edge away from industrial-scale fan service and focus on creating more stories with edge, heart, and originality. Fewer focus groups and more focus, please.