Film review: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
More Marvel mayhem starring Benedict Cumberbatch
The Marvel films are now “largely indistinguishable dollops of digital gloop”, said Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph, but if you like watching a load of branded characters “wisecrack, squabble and mope while pretending to fly around and shoot fireballs”, this film should hit the spot. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Doctor Strange, a surgeon-turned-sorcerer who first turned up in the franchise in 2016. In this instalment, he gets into a scrap with Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), an embittered witch who is using a book of evil spells to wreak havoc. One of the film’s main points of interest is that it’s directed by Sam Raimi, the maestro behind the Evil Dead trilogy and the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies; but although there are trademark Raimi flourishes – including “much demonic wailing” – he has stuck to the franchise’s “fussily restrictive rule set”. The result is a superficial film made in Marvel’s ubiquitous “house style, with Raimi-flavouring sprinkled on top”.
Not only has Raimi been wasted on this, said Tom Shone in The Sunday Times, but so has Olsen, “a fine actress who once took a single step into the Marvel-verse” and now seems “unable to get out”. There’s little more to this film than “long passages of semi-intelligible exposition” interspersed with “glittering set pieces”. As for the plot, which involves Doctor Strange popping up in various different realities, it seems to have been “modelled on a plate of seafood linguine”.
Well, I rather enjoyed the film, said Libby Purves in the Daily Mail. Yes, it’s “Marvel on amphetamines”, with “cultural references from every century, religion and Saturday matinee cliché” crammed in, but it’s also “massively entertaining” – even if, like me, “you gave up superhero movies 50 years ago”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful north
The Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashion
In the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – a ‘comfort’ watch for fans
The Week Recommends The final film of the franchise gives viewers a chance to say goodbye
-
The Paper: new show, same 'warmth and goofiness'
The Week Recommends This spin-off of the American version of The Office is ‘comfortingly and wearyingly familiar’
-
Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons – ‘riotously colourful’ works from an ‘exhilarating’ painter
The Week Recommends The 34-year-old is the first artist to take over Dulwich Picture Gallery’s main space
-
Born With Teeth: ‘mischievously provocative’ play starring Ncuti Gatwa
The Week Recommends ‘Sprightly’ production from Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe
-
Art review: Lorna Simpson: Source Notes
Feature Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, through Nov. 2
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is more
Feature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more