The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a weird and wonderful place, and in the 28th film in the massively popular franchise this strange world gets even bigger and more multidimensional.
‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, out in UAE cinemas on May 5, sees the return of Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular sorcerer Doctor Strange who is in for a new adventure that ramps up the action, computer graphics and emotions to an 11.
As expected, ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ is not just the Cumberbatch show. The movie has been made on a grand scale and features MCU characters Elizabeth Olsen (as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch), Benedict Wong (as Wong) and Rachel McAdams (as Christine Palmer), new stars and cameos galore — including Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier.
In full-circle moment, the movie has been directed by Sam Raimi, who returns to the superhero genre 15 years after the end of his ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy.
Ahead of the release of ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, find out more about the movie and its characters.
Benedict Cumberbatch steps up as a leader
In the latest MCU movie, Cumberbatch reprises his role as the mystical sorcerer whose new task is to save teenager America Chavez from an evil force that aims to draw out her power — which is the ability to jump through various alternative universes.
Cumberbatch is a uniquely mature character in the MCU, what with the greyed streaks in his hair, his stoical and aloof attitude and a dramatic past that has tinged his world. The 45-year-old British actor embraces that impression of being one of the “grown ups” in the franchise.
Speaking during a global press conference, the actor opened up about his character’s shift to an “elder statesman sort of role”.
“He’s quite an outsider. He doesn’t immediately strike you as a leader despite his prominence in the MCU at this moment,” Cumberbatch said. “And that’s what makes him really interesting and conflicted, I think as a hero. As, you know, as Sam [Raimi] alluded to, it’s the humanity that keeps people coming back for more.”
He added: “We haven’t really understood what the cost of that is. What it is that’s fuelling that. Both him as a person, but also within this mysterious realm of sorcery and magic. So, this one is about examining that and finding his flaws, his humanity, as well as his strengths. And renewing our understanding of him and deepening our understanding of him.”
Cumberbatch has played the character in six Marvel movies, and this will be his second solo superhero film after 2016’s ‘Doctor Strange’.
The new, much-awaited flick sees Doctor Strange grapple with darker elements and a more complex world that is compounded by the this new multiverse that he flits through with America.
“I just think what the Strange we know learns, really, from that,” the actor said. “You know, this multiversal narrative structure or idea is like it is in our own lives. We play multiple roles. We have an incredible capacity and imaginative space in our subconscious to imagine ourselves into different circumstances in our dream scape and I feel that this is an extrapolation of that in the sense that he’s meeting other versions who are essentially him, but they’ve made different choices in different circumstances with different outcomes.”
Apart from playing one of the most thrilling Marvel characters, Cumberbatch has also been busy working on smaller but no less impactful projects such as ‘Power of the Dog’, which he gotten a Best Actor nomination for for the 2022 Academy Awards. He says it’s a “great joy” to work on various levels of projects.
“I get fans of Marvel Cinematic Universe fans coming up to me, saying, ‘I loved you in ‘Power of the Dog’. And that’s just what it should all be about,” he said. “This is a very wonderful broad spectrum of culture that I get to occupy, and it’s proof — my career — that there is room enough in our culture for both fare at any side or end or middle of a spectrum that requires all of it, all of it... If Spider-Man gets people back into movie theatres to see ‘The Power of the Dog’, great.”
Elizabeth Olsen dives into darker role
A roller-coaster ride awaits those who are fans of Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, and the actress has herself been on this ride for a long time. In the new movie, her character takes on a scarier and more heart-wrenching edge; building on her previous appearances in the Marvel movies and in acclaimed TV show ‘WandaVision’.
“In the previous films before ‘WandaVision’, I took up a lane for storytelling that was more grounded in sincerity, love, loss and grief,” Olsen said. “With ‘WandaVision’, I got to become anything and everything, and really grow her into a woman, leading her to accepting that she is this mythic woman and that is her destiny. I hope that, in this film, people see that continuation of her acceptance of who she is and the journey that she has taken to get to this moment. I feel like she has way more clarity now than ever, in this film.”
Xochitl Gomez jumps into MCU
‘Doctor Strange’ gets a massive dose of sweetness and vibrancy thanks to America Chavez, a landmark Latina teen character from the Marvel comic books, played in this movie by the talented Xochitl Gomez. In the film, America has the ability to open star-shaped holes in reality and pass between countless universes. She is being hunted for this power, which she feels she can’t control, and Doctor Strange tries to protect her and teach her about herself.
“In this film, America’s trying to figure out how to control her powers. With that comes a crazy ride, and that is the movie. She carries this confidence. Even when she’s in a situation and everything is stacked against her, she has confidence. We root for her,” Gomez, 16, said in production notes.
During the global press conference, Gomez talked about how presence added a youthful energy to the movie.
“One thing that was so important to me was that this is a very adult movie. There are lots of adults in it. It’s very heavy,” she said. “And so, I wanted to make sure that America still had that youthfulness and still had that fake it until you make it resilience. When you’ve got some crazy stuff happening, it’s a little hard. One thing that really helps is that she is 14, which is younger than she was in any of the comics.”
Gomes says she looked up to Olsen, whom she calls Lizzie, for inspiration on set.
“Everyone is great, but in particular, I did look at Lizzie, especially while she was acting and getting ready to do a scene. I would watch her. I swear, I wasn’t a stalker. It sounds stalker-like, but it wasn’t like that,” she said. “She’s just such a powerful woman. Especially me, as a young girl, I would constantly look up to her. Five minutes before a scene that was difficult, she would get in that moment, and I realised, ‘Well, if she’s doing it, I should probably do it too.’ And I did do that. It helped me. I just learned so much from her, and she doesn’t even know it.”
Don’t miss it!
‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ releases in the UAE on May 5.
