Peter James Mann
This is Raimi’s Universe Now
Doctor Strange is, no joke, in my top 5 for the MCU. Yes, there were problems (particularly structurally). But I found the visuals and themes of the film powerful. It’s the MCU equivalent of that album you streamed one time and you took songs for a workout playlist. It has, as they say, its moments.
Also, I never want to go to the hand dimension again.
While some sites are focusing exclusively on the MCU properties to watch (and there are more than a few to pour through), I want to give you some off-kilter films to watch if you already have and maybe you can catch a few more things you weren’t expecting. I know how much you love Easter Eggs. And chocolate.
Just in case you haven’t seen the foray of fantastic films and shows that will be referenced in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that are just from Marvel and Disney, here’s your bullet-pointed list to look up:
- Doctor Strange
- Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame
- Loki (Because, at the end of the day, isn’t this all their fault?)
- Wandavision (which I dive into further in this article)
- Spider Man: No Way Home
So let’s get you Film School Ready once more as we find some side-chained references and riffs you can pull out of your magician’s hat with your friends. This film has had several reshoots and rewrites, so there’s a lot of possible things to pull from, even if it’s just one or two shots!
Let’s get going!
1. Army of Darkness
“Whoa whoa whoa! Pete, I can’t watch this with my 6-year-old son.”
NO! You can’t! You also shouldn’t be bringing them to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I’m 90 percent sure Wanda’s scary (as the Scarlet Witch should be) and 100 percent sure Zombie-Shiva-Strange will give your child two weeks of insomnia. Spider Man and his Amazing Friends, this is not.
Did you see the hand dimension? Don’t call my bluff, I’ll post a picture.
Army of Darkness is the third entry in the OG The Evil Dead Trilogy. And while not the most horrifying, it is the most fantasy-based and deals with both time travel and necromancy. Zombie Strange has a very Deadite look about him and don’t be surprised if he sounds like Deadlite Strange as well.
It also might be an indicator of the kinds of humor we could get in the film, as Sam “Evil Dead” Raimi is a massive fan of both The Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges. If anyone could pull off some decent wordplay, it’s Cumberbatch. And Raimi might finally be the director in the MCU to get more of that, and maybe even more humor, out of our Sorcerer Supreme.
Just don’t do the Beyonce joke again.
2. Wandavision
As the first Disney+ MCU show, this mini-series sets up all the events from Wanda’s side of things for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Wanda is trying to live an idyllic life where she controls her entire reality, including everyone around her…kind of like what Stephen Strange originally envisioned his dream life to be in Doctor Strange. He was as obsessed with time and perfection as Wanda is with finding her own sense of peace.
And if you’ve seen it and remember the post-credit scene, she’s prepared to do a lot of things to get it. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get to visit a multiverse where Wandavision isn’t her magical illusion, but her true life.
It appears that way, at least, in the trailers.
3. Spider-Man 2
Sam “Evil Dead” Raimi became Sam “Spider-Man” Raimi overnight because of the success of the Spider-Man films for Sony.
Raimi showed the world that you could not only beat DC juggernauts Batman and Superman at the Box Office, but that the source material could be treated even more maturely…even if it was more colorful and fun at times.
In Spider-Man 2, we get Doc Ock as our Big Bad, but it is with this villain where Sam Raimi brings back more of his Evil Dead flavor, sprinkling B-Movie horror into a PG-13 Comic Book film. One scene in particular that sticks out to me personally is the autopsy scene where Doc Ock plays dead until he, well, doesn’t.
You see shadows and splatter for the most part, a la Alfred Hitchcock, but some of the swooping camera shots from the perspective of a Metal Arm is a direct reference to the Deadite Camera work you see in the Evil Dead movies. Which reminds me…
4. The Evil Dead
Really, you should watch the whole trilogy, but the breakout film Sam Raimi made with his friends in the late 1970s was called The Evil Dead. It was made on a shoe-string budget and the cast and crew were 13 in total.
And it was a difficult shoot for everyone involved. They stayed in that cabin and burned furniture to stay warm! That cabin almost became The Shining behind-the-scenes, but that’s a story for another day.
Some of the practical effects Raimi and company were able to pull off, especially at the time, were some of the most inventive techniques critics had come across. Evil Dead 2 has a bigger budget and maybe a more world-building plot, but The Evil Dead holds a special place in my heart.
One technique in particular that is used to great effect is when the Deadites fly through the air. The camera was attached to the end of a 2×4. Raimi ran with it from the other end, simply holding it in front of him. At least one camera was damaged.
Another was how Raimi would tilt and spin the camera to disorient the audience and make more abstract shots. Some of these spins and tracking shots have become staples of his directing style, like the zoom into the eye and the spinning out from Doctor Strange waking up when you watch the final trailer.
I’m excited to see more of those shots mixed with Doctor Strange’s impressive special effects.
5. Marvel’s What If…
Marvel’s What If…? series was divisive for my household, as I am a fan of animation meant for older kids like yours truly, but no one else is. But I can also see where some diehard Marvel fans felt like they went in the wrong direction, or maybe pulled too many punches, or maybe made it go too dark or not dark enough.
But a multiverse is literally everything. Unless you’re curtailing to a particular theme, it feels slapdash or disconnected. I think they were trying to do Marvel’s The Twilight Zone and because I’m kind of a fan of variety formats, I was somewhat forgiving of that mish-mash of tonality. But even The Twilight Zone stuck to particular rules and themes, as they are all mortality tales.
That aside, there are two episodes you should watch in particular and they are “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” and “What if…Zombies?!” These two episodes are important for the most Catch-22 reason possible: They were, at least in part, responsible for some of the reshoots on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
See, in “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” we get to see the Evil Doctor Strange. He was such a popular villain that fans chopped at the bit that, possibly, our MCU Doctor Strange could meet this Evil Doctor after the events of the episode. We see that in a later trailer after the delay was set in place. He says the line, “Things just got out of hand.”
“What if…Zombies?!” is great for the sheer fact we get Zombie Strange in yet another trailer, which could mean more Live-Action Zombie heroes from the Marvel’s Zombies Universe. There were some awesome references to the comics in that episode (the Zombies stuff is SO GOOD! You need to read it).
It would be fantastic for Raimi in particular to reference this, especially with his background in Evil Dead and horror comedy, as there are some pretty gross body horror humor moments in both the comic and the episode.
6. The Quick and The Dead
Sam Raimi also directed one of my favorite westerns, The Quick and The Dead. It serves as an ensemble piece of sorts for Raimi and shows how adept he is at handling a myriad of actors in a genre piece. Westerns, after all, were the Comic Book films of their day.
This guy can literally direct anything.
The Quick and The Dead centers around a gun-slinging cowgirl that comes to a borderline ghost town and ends up in a Mortal Kombat-esque quickdraw competition that is being run by the mayor/horrific monster Herod. It’s a spaghetti western that feels both unique and familiar with a stellar cast including Sharon Stone in the lead role, Russell Crowe, Gene Hackman, and a young Leonardo DiCaprio.
One thing that might be referenced is time and how little we have, which is actually a big theme of both this film and Doctor Strange. The way the clock tower in town is emphasized is really great and there’s some really awesome references to other classic westerns in here, both with characters and cinematography.
Also I just wanted to add this on the list…
7. Drag Me to Hell
Sam Raimi is very comfortable in a PG-13 rating, even with horror. But don’t worry, for those who want the R and Unrated versions, you just need to find a Director’s Cut.
Drag Me To Hell also shows how far he can push that PG-13 rating in terms of interdimensional, religious horror. It also shows how evil loan companies are, but you didn’t need this movie to tell you that.
Christine, a loan officer, denies a loan extension to an old, frail woman in an attempt to get a promotion. Unfortunately, this woman is now going to be foreclosed upon and is also a witch. Christine has a few days to find a psychic to get rid of a curse that will have a demon dragging her to Hell for thinking being successful meant being ruthless. But who can blame her?
Oh, the old lady.
Needless to say, I don’t think Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be pulling that many punches in terms of terror. Sam Raimi can still throw it down, at least as hard as Disney will let him.
8. X-Men: Days of Future Past
One of the biggest reveals from the myriad of trailers we’ve received was that Patrick Stewart broke his sacred theater oath with Hugh Jackman that he would never play Professor X again after Logan. At the time, they both said they’d never play the characters again, since that was the best way to say goodbye to X-Men. However, Disney makes offers no one can refuse.
Not even Jean-Luc Picard.
Out of all of the particular ways Stewart played Professor X through the years, I feel he’ll be channeling this performance the most; it’s the closest one structurally and thematically. This film showcases Professor X coming to terms with a younger form of himself, while at the same time altering the past and trying to mold his younger self into a better, even more altruistic person.
In this film, Kitty Pride uses her phasing ability to transport Wolverine’s consciousness back in time to alter the events of the past. Specifically, it is to stop the activation of the Sentinel Program. These kaiju-sized men of metal were designed to hunt and destroy mutant humans with the X-gene.
Unfortunately, the man who created them didn’t understand EVERY human has the X gene, just some have it expressed and some don’t, resulting in the worst error in programming since the last time your favorite social media site went down.
And that’s all I got for you this time. Check back soon for more dorking out about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness here at Dorkdaily.com!
See you soon!
