WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
A movie about multiverses will no doubt make no sense. Therefore, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has a lot of unanswered questions, weird plot holes, and just plain nonsense. Read on to figure out all the sins the movie committed and everything that doesn’t make sense in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Why does Doctor Strange remember the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home?
Very early in the movie, Doctor Strange reveals he was dealing with some spider-related things. However, how does Doctor Strange remember that? We all watched as Peter Parker said goodbye to everyone because no one was going to remember him, including Doctor Strange. So, why does Doctor Strange remember dealing with a spidery mess if he wasn’t supposed to remember what happened during the events of No Way Home?
Is America Chavez really the only one with the power to help Wanda travel multiverses?
Marvel literally just released a movie about multiverses, where Doctor Strange was able to accidentally open a portal to merge multiple universes (and purposefully open one to send everyone back). So, couldn’t he do it again? Also, he very clearly remembers what happened in the events of No Way Home, so couldn’t Wanda have exploited his powers instead of chasing Chavez?
Also, Scarlett Witch summoned the one-eyed, inter-dimensional monster, Gargantos to track down Chavez. Couldn’t Scarlett Witch take his powers to gain the ability to travel universes? If she could summon Gargantos, couldn’t she have also summoned something else that could help her travel to another universe?
How does Wanda know about Chavez and how did she track her?
When Doctor Strange attempts to recruit Wanda to help Chavez, he finds out that Wanda already knew about the universe jumper. But, how does she know Chavez? In order to find out who Chavez was or locate her in another universe, wouldn’t Wanda have had to universe-travel herself?
Wanda also sent the one-eyed monster to track Chavez down in another universe, which presumably means that she has either visited this other universe before or had some way to interact with it.
Why doesn’t America Chavez accidentally travel more?
In the movie, Chavez reveals she can’t control her powers and that she can only accidentally open portals when she’s scared. The audience even catches a glimpse of young Chavez portal-jumping for the first time when she sees a bee. If a bee scare could open a portal, why doesn’t Chavez open more portals in the movie? She’s screaming throughout most of her adventure and comes across many things more frightening than a bee, but rarely opens portals. I mean, the sight of Zombie Strange alone seems like it would be enough to scare most people into opening random portals.
Why can’t Wong and Doctor Strange magically cover reflections?
Once Kamar-Taj falls, Scarlett Witch travels through reflections to get to America Chavez. Wong and Doctor Strange uncover her plan and attempt to disrupt it by covering reflections and puddles of water with sheets. However, can’t they do this faster with you know, magic? Strange has a cloak that magically follows him, so can’t he just telepathically move sheets to cover the puddles instantaneously?
Why is Kamar-Taj still using cannons?
When Scarlett Witch breaks through the shield at Kamar-Taj, the sorcerers and mystics rush to load the cannons. Why are the sorcerers still using cannons when they are educated in the mystic arts? Sure they could still have the canons for cultural value, but why wouldn’t they use magic to load the cannons? It seemed very counterproductive and out of place for the sorcerers to be loading the cannons by hand like it was 12th century.
Can’t Scarlett Witch magic herself some shoes? Or fly across broken glass?
When Scarlett Witch is chasing Chavez et al. through the Illuminati’s fortress, she hobbles around like a demon zombie because she’s stepping on broken glass. But why is she even touching the glass when she has magic powers!? Can’t she just magic herself some shoes or fly over the glass? Seems a lot less painful and faster.
Why was everyone staring at walls waiting for things to happen?
One of the biggest flaws of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was that it seemed like there were three different movies smushed into one and everyone was simply waiting for the action to happen. For example, when Scarlett Witch was chasing Doctor Strange, America Chavez, and Christine Palmer, the trio stopped to stare at a closed wall wondering where the witch went, instead of running to safety.
The same thing happens later on, when Scarlett Witch is attempting to drain Chavez of her powers. The ritual took so long that when Zombie Strange made his way to the mountain, Scarlett was simply staring at a rock wall waiting for him.
Why did Reed Richards feel the need to voice their next steps?
Right before the epic cameo fight scene, Reed Richards tells Scarlett Witch that Black Bolt could kill her with just a whisper. Apparently at this moment, Richards felt the need to stoop to the level of every bad guy ever and document his entire plan instead of simply doing it. Therefore, it gave Scarlett Witch an easy way to kill off the male superheroes and leave the door open for Marvel Studios to set up an overplayed female fight scene.
Why was it so easy for Doctor Strange to open the door to the Book of Vishanti?
After their very slow run to the Book of Vishanti, Strange, Chavez, and Christine stare at a locked door and attempt to figure out how to open it. The lock on the door very clearly had an indent of a watch on it, making it very obvious to anyone trying to break in that they needed Strange’s watch. Seems like alternate Doctor Strange should’ve gotten a better security system to protect an all-powerful book of spells.
Why would Donna Strange die the same way in both universes?
Towards the end of the movie, Doctor Strange meets Sinister Strange. When they meet, Sinister Strange asks Earth-616’s Strange to prove who he is. Therefore, in Batman v Superman “Martha” fashion, Strange reveals that his sister, Donna Strange died after falling through ice when they were young.
But, why would she die the same way in both universes? And why would Doctor Strange use that piece of information to prove he was indeed who he said he was? Wouldn’t he have been hesitant to use Donna’s death in case she didn’t die in this universe or in case she died in a different way? Seems like it would’ve just been easier and faster for him to prove himself by using his powers.
Why doesn’t Wanda’s plan make ANY sense?
Wanda’s first plan of attack was to send a one-eyed monster to capture America Chavez, but how did she even know Chavez existed? The movie never revealed how Wanda was able to figure out Chavez existed or how she was able to get a monstrous being to track her down between universes. If Wanda was able to summon a monster to track Chavez done, couldn’t she have sent the monster to abduct her children from a different universe and bring them back to Earth-616? Couldn’t she have also asked Chavez to go get her children in exchange for her life?
Also, why doesn’t Scarlett Witch just resort to dream walking to being with? The movie attempts to clear this up by saying that she was being “reasonable” but that seems like a poor excuse. If she was so desperate to be reunited with her children, she would’ve definitely tried dream walking earlier, even if it was just to visit her children in the other universe.
Where is Vision in the alternate universe?
Is the alternate universe simply an alternate reality where Wanda never gets caught creating Westview? If so, why is Vision not in the universe? Also, wouldn’t Scarlett Witch want to enter a universe where she had both Vision and her children?
Why is America Chavez able to find Doctor Strange but not her mothers?
Doctor Strange finds out that Chavez had not seen her parents since she accidentally teleported them to another dimension. However, it seemed very easy for her to find Doctor Strange in every universe and for Scarlett Witch to find Chavez, so why can’t Chavez find her own parents? If she knew that frightening situations scared her, wouldn’t she scare herself into different universes until she found her parents? Also, if she was able to send her parents somewhere, she no doubt would’ve eventually sent herself to the same place.
At the end of the movie, Doctor Strange tells Chavez she is going to find her parents, but doesn’t offer his help. In No Way Home, Strange accidentally opened a portal into dimensions and purposefully did it to send Spider-Man’s villains back to their universes. He could’ve very easily helped Chavez find her parents, especially now that she had her powers under control.
Why was Zombie Doctor Strange so deteriorated?
Marvel unveiled Zombie Strange and provided great fan service. However, why was the zombie so deteriorated? That Doctor Strange was only dead for what seemed like a day. Although Gargantos had some weird deterioration powers, Strange was able to heal himself after being hit, so why would the deterioration process speed up that fast?
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Did you notice anything else that was off about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Let me know in the comments!