Sightlines · reception

How Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was received

2022 · Sam Raimi · Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on Sightlines

The arc

Divisive on release in 2022 — critics and fans split over its whiplash tone — but as complaints about anonymous MCU house style grew louder, it's increasingly cited as one of the few Marvel films with a visible director, and Raimi devotees have only grown fonder of it.

What’s debated

The eternal fight: is this a real Sam Raimi movie smuggled into the MCU, or a Marvel content-delivery machine with a few Raimi zooms sprinkled on top?

Its footprint

Its cameo-heavy centerpiece sequence flooded the internet with memes and reaction videos on opening weekend, and 'the most Raimi thing Marvel ever let happen' became shorthand for studio films that briefly go feral.

Where it stands

Mid-tier MCU by consensus, but a minor auteurist cause on Letterboxd — the entry people rewatch for the direction rather than the franchise.

Did you know? It was Sam Raimi's first directed feature since Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) and his first superhero film since Spider-Man 3 (2007) — and yes, longtime collaborator Bruce Campbell gets his customary cameo, with Danny Elfman on score.

A Deleuzian reading of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness →