Things I Wouldâve Liked to See in Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness
A list of ideas, in no particular order
*SPOILERS FOR MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS*
1. Give Benedict Cumberbatch a Monologue to Act with (bonus points if itâs about the million bad endings he had to sort through to find the Endgame option): Instead of a short convo in the benches, have the doctor who got dusted come up to Stephen at the afterparty of the wedding. In fact, have several people ask for his autograph or talk to him like heâs a celebrity beforehand, casually questioning him about the biggest call he made with the fate of the universe. When the past colleague questions the validity of his choice, maybe Stephen gets fed up, and the conversation goes something like this:
Doctor Colleague: What if youâd done [ Â Â ] beforeâ
Stephen: Nope, wouldnât have worked, [ Â Â ] and [ Â Â ] goes off too soon, shit gets blown up, everyone dies, try againâ
Doctor Colleague: Then what if youâd [ Â Â ]â
Stephen: Again, no, [ Â Â ] and [ Â Â ] means [ Â Â Â Â Â ], everyone dies!
Doctor Colleague: But what ifâ
Stephen: No, no, it doesnât work! I looked through a million other choices we couldâve made, and we lost every single time. You think I made that call based on, what, personal preference? I saw the universe die more times than you can fathom, I saw galaxies crumble, why does everyone thinkâ My opinion had no sway in the decision I made. I made the only choice I was supposed to. (etc.)
2. Show at least one way Stephenâs disability impacts his daily life: Maybe his hands shake too much to steadily hold a glass. Maybe he canât get a key in the lock at the first try. Itâs either his hands or his magic, and Stephen chose magic. Show us the consequences.
3. I feel like the scariest villain shouldâve been an Alternate Strange: We can keep the creepy chase scenes and all the emotional scenes with Wanda, Elizabeth Olsenâs performance was phenomenal and I love her. But everyone was talking about how Stephen has the potential for great evil. I feel like we shouldâve gotten payoff on that.
4. At least One Alternate Christine should die in front of Stephen: I loved what they did in What If (tv series), we shouldâve gotten to see Stephenâs grief on live-action too. Especially since it creates a direct parallel between him and Wanda. (They each only have the one love interest over countless timelines, yet they still canât hold onto them, huh. Cruel fate.)
5. Elaborate on the Scarlet Witch Prophecy Thing: We needed a set-up of the prophecy in the movie before the actual reveal of the temple.
6. Wanda destroys the Big Bad Strangeâs universe (fulfilling the Prophecyâno one said anything about which universe) and seals the both of them in eternal combat: This feels like a better idea than what happened in the movie. Also itâs a cool parallel with an Alternate Stephen from the What If series.
7. More dreams about Alternate Stephens Fucking Up: Stephen shouldâve just been constantly dreaming about instances where he makes the wrong choice and destroys the world. Drill it into his head that if he strays from the path, the world is done for.
8. Let Stephen complain about how apparently the only path for him is the straight and narrow one: If divergence from the Path guarantees certain destruction of the world by his own hand, how much freedom does he truly have? Show us whatâs so special about this superhero who sees everything that could go wrong with him every night he dreams, then wakes up to not do those things. Heâs tempted, heâs afraid, and he Chooses not to do wrong.
9. Put more focus on Stephen giving Wanda a Second Chance: If he fucks up, it spells the end of universes, so he Canât fuck up; he has that pressure on him. But Wandaâs fuck-ups donât automatically destroy universes. Wandaâs fuck-ups can be recovered from. Let Stephen give Wanda what he will never be able to have across so many thousands of timelines: a second chance after a grief-stricken fuck-up. Trust her to help him fight the Big Bad Evil Strange.
10. Let Stephen snark and whine about his difficult life and still unfailingly do the Right Thing: We must remember that he is a smartass. Maybe he still gets jealous of practicing surgeons. Maybe he gives life-saving advice to doctors of alternate dimensions who are trying to save an Alternate Christine, wishing he could do the operation himself. Let him complain about how everyone is hounding him about Turning Evil all the time. He rolls with the punches, accepts the madness that his life has become and the hard choices that are asked of him, but he can still complain about them all the way.
(Iâm just choosing to focus on the two main characters here. I think a lot of the side characters deserved to be written better, but elaborating on that would make this post really long.)
TL;DR:Â Stephen and Wanda are characters with so much potential. Theyâve got backstory, theyâre morally complex, theyâre uber-powerful and nigh impossible to keep in check. The only one that can stop them is themselves, apparently. Isnât that interesting? Morality, power, corruption, accountability, grief, and sacrifice. When youâre faced with the physical manifestation of your choices, right or wrong, how do you grapple with the consequences?
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