Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now out in theaters worldwide and, unlike last year’s Marvel films, so far it has delivered the usual stream of revenue Disney has come to expect from the MCU. Nevertheless, the movie has found a tougher time with critics and audiences as far as what it actually does for the wider multiverse concept and its characters, with two familiar faces being prime examples of this.
It’s fully arguable that Doctor Strange 2 doesn’t have the most cohesive story, with the film at times possibly showing the scars of the numerous reshoots it had to go through until very close to its premiere, and while Marvel hype remains intact that comes at a cost. Stephen Strange does get to do a lot of growing up in the film, but this isn’t necessarily fueled by the most important person in his life, Christine Palmer, nor the man who was setup years ago as one of his main foes, Mordo, but why is that?
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“You Still Don’t Get The Girl”
The Doctor Strange sequel is packed with great quotes, but none sum up Stephen’s life story as good as what the former rival surgeon Nicodemus West tells the dear protagonist during Christine’s wedding, that is because whether it’s in What If…?’s universes or in his own movies, he’s quite down on his luck when it comes to love. All things considered, Strange’s pricey broken Jaeger-LeCoultre watch is a perfect metaphor for his relationship with Christine, beautiful, cherished, and yet broken.
Doctor Strange 2 deals with a lot of subplots, including the mandatory brief for the audience to know how the Blip’s five years affected the main characters’ lives with Christine’s wedding montage, however, that’s about it for Earth-616’s Rachel McAdams. There’s nothing implicitly wrong with this as the Illuminati universe’s Christine is potentially an even better character, more in line with what it would be like to be romantically involved with the most powerful sorcerer out there who, nonetheless, is relegated to the role of an underwhelming sidekick.
Christine’s purpose in this movie is clear, she’s meant to mirror the Scarlet Witch’s misguided desire to be with her children, she’s the temptation luring so many other Strange variants to cause multiversal incursions that threaten the very fabrics of reality. Still, it’s hard to feel emotionally invested in her precisely because of this reason; the Multiverse’s rules tell viewers that other variants can be drastically different to the MCU’s original batch of heroes as Strange proves, but when it comes to the supporting cast, Stephen and the entire script sees them as mirages of the same people he knew.
The main buzzkill between Strange and Earth-838 Christine is how fast the switch between skeptic captor and loving partner is flicked, there’s too little happening on her end to justify her seeing him differently, and even then whatever changes Strange experiences are not driven by Christine but by the wider chaos in the whole story. Overall, it’s not surprising this happens after all the Illuminati are killed, as that scene has largely come to define the movie’s biggest faults for many fans.
What’s Up With Mordo?
Stephen tells America Chávez that Mordo is a former sorcerer friend of his who has since the events in the first Doctor Strange movie has become his sworn enemy, except that even the most die-hard MCU fans would have a hard time recalling that. Doctor Strange’s 2016 post-credits scene does feature Mordo finally betraying the doctrines of Kamer-Taj’s sorcerers but there’s never a direct spat between the two explaining this.
Even accounting for the fact that Doctor Strange 2 was originally a bit longer, it’s hard to imagine this moment being among the ones that got cut, it’s more as if writers were just oblivious to that aspect of the story. Sure, it’s not 100% necessary for the movie to explain this, but that does leave the wide-open threat of an Earth-616 Mordo roaming free for more than 5 years after having vowed to destroy the good Doctor.
Even skipping past that, Earth-838 Mordo is defined on the exact same grounds as his mainline MCU variant, he’s Strange’s sworn enemy despite having risen to sit on the Illuminati lineup in this universe. With Doctor Strange 2 dismissing the Illuminati so easily, there really wasn’t any good reason to bring back Mordo in an unfamiliar role where the character is not enhanced practically in any shape or form by his past appearances, especially with the kind of cameos the film was saving.
This may be the MCU’s first film with a multiversal plot, however, it leaves a bitter taste in the way it handles supporting characters who were always going to get the short end of the stick compared to the real superheroes. Side characters have a tough time shining in the MCU as it is, but when they’re used in such a superficial manner it signals a bad omen for all of them going forward as the Multiverse storyline keeps expanding in Phase Four, in Mordo’s case they practically a end up being a minor nuisance or distraction instead of the real foes they were supposed to become.
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