So in light of Benedict Cumberbatch’s recent interview where he (more or less) admitted he was trying to continue Stephen’s story unlike some other people (Feige, Waldron, you know who you are), I feel like now is the time for me to explain my problem’s with Stephen’s arc in Multiverse, much as I like it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love that Stephen’s arc in this film is centered around love, which I agree is a very important aspect of his character. I love that it tries to address Stephen’s issues with control. I love that he decides to face his fears and start embracing love in all of its forms.
A lot of that is decently carried out in my opinion...it just feels like there’s something missing. See, the biggest problem with Stephen’s arc in this film, as far as I’m concerned, isn’t that he doesn’t have one, it’s that it feels incomplete.
It’s established that he’s lonely, but it’s never explained why that is.
The movie introduces the idea of Stephen’s issues with control, and what happens when he becomes obsessive and deprives himself of love, make him dangerous, something that makes sense to explore, and there are plenty of examples to show that it can be done well (Strange Tales Volume II, Strange Supreme, etc.). The problem is that Stephen’s issues with control are never tied into the fact that he’s insecure and deeply traumatized like they should be.
It’s implied that losing Donna is what started Stephen down the path of his desperate need to fix everything himself, but because it’s only mentioned once in passing, we don’t have a clear picture of how badly her death affects him other than Sinister’s line. Which, as I’ve been saying for months, would’ve been so EASY to fix if they’d tied it into his relationship with America.
Bottom line, the arc that Stephen has in this film is not a bad one (at least in my opinion). The problem is that, like a lot of other things in Multiverse, probably needed another draft or two to flesh it out a little better. And while I commend Benedict for trying to develop Stephen’s character, the fact of the matter is that he isn’t a seasoned writer, and if he’d been working with a more experienced screenwriter they could’ve churned out something truly great.
