Film

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Sam Raimi takes the MCU's tidiest wizard and lets him loose in something that occasionally forgets it's a superhero movie and remembers it's a horror film. Multiverse-hopping gives Raimi license to swing from splashy comic-book spectacle to genuine gore to full-blown tragedy, often mid-scene. Messier and weirder than its predecessor, anchored by Elizabeth Olsen's ferocious turn as a mother unmade by grief.

TMDb rating7.2

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WandaVision2021

Essential context. This is where Wanda's grief curdles into something dangerous, told through a genuinely inventive sitcom-pastiche structure that earns every emotional gut-punch in the film that follows.

But It's a slow, formally playful character study wearing a superhero costume — very different pace and texture from the film.

WandaVision poster

Spider-Man: No Way Home2021

The multiverse cracks open here first, with Strange front and centre and the same giddy, reckless energy about crossing timelines that gets pushed even further in Multiverse of Madness.

But Leans hard on nostalgia and prior franchise knowledge; if you're not already invested in Spider-Man lore, some of the joy is lost on you.

Spider-Man: No Way Home poster

Everything Everywhere All at Once2022

The same multiverse toy box, rebuilt from scratch with no studio mandate — family, grief and regret refracted through infinite versions of one exhausted woman.

But It's stranger, messier and far more emotionally direct than a superhero movie; the tonal whiplash isn't for everyone.

Everything Everywhere All at Once poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Evil Dead II1987

Same director, same visual DNA: the possessed-corpse sequences and camera trickery in Multiverse of Madness are Raimi smuggling his horror roots into a Disney tentpole.

Raimi's own gleeful, gore-drenched slapstick-horror classic — the shaky camerawork, the dead-eyed grins, the sudden lurches into cartoon violence, all present decades before Marvel let him near a budget.

But Splattery, low-budget, deliberately silly horror-comedy — a world away from polished blockbuster filmmaking.

Evil Dead II poster
More like this (8)

Doctor Strange2016

The origin story, and worth it for the visual grammar of the mystic arts — folding cities, mirror dimensions — that Raimi later detonates with far more abandon.

But Conventional by comparison: a tidy hero's-journey plot with none of the sequel's chaos or genre-bending nerve.

Doctor Strange poster

Loki2021

Lays the bureaucratic groundwork for the multiverse's rules and consequences, with a puckish lead performance and time-travel mechanics that pay off directly in later films.

But It's talky, bureaucratic sci-fi rather than action — patient world-building over spectacle.

Loki poster

Avengers: Endgame2019

Gives you the full weight of what Wanda loses, and why her arc in Multiverse of Madness lands as tragedy rather than just villainy.

But Three hours, a sprawling ensemble cast, and virtually none of the horror-movie flavour that defines this sequel.

Avengers: Endgame poster

X-Men: Days of Future Past2014

Alternate timelines, a world reshaped by one changed decision, and a Professor X whose face you'll recognise the moment he shows up elsewhere.

But Different studio continuity entirely, so the connective tissue is more thematic than literal — don't expect explanations.

X-Men: Days of Future Past poster

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania2023no page yet

Picks up the MCU's multiverse thread and pushes it toward its next big villain, if you want to keep pulling on that particular narrative rope.

But Widely considered a step down — thinner characters, less visual imagination, more setup than substance.

Thor: Ragnarok2017

Proof that Marvel occasionally hands a distinctive director real creative rope — here it's comic anarchy instead of horror, but the same house-style-breaking spirit.

But Pure comedy-adventure with none of the dread; if you came for the horror elements, this won't scratch that itch.

Thor: Ragnarok poster

Possession1981

Wanda's transformation from grieving mother into destructive force is this film's engine minus the franchise padding — same wound, played entirely straight and far more brutal.

A mother's grief and rage literalised into something monstrous, filmed with total conviction and zero safety net — one of cinema's most unhinged, devastating performances of collapse.

But Genuinely disturbing arthouse horror with none of the comfort or humour Marvel provides; it will not leave you feeling entertained.

Possession poster

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica2011no page yet

Witches born from crushed hope, girls warping reality out of grief, multiverse stakes hidden inside a genre built for children — the same machinery, wearing an entirely different, unguarded costume.

A magical-girl anime that quietly reveals itself to be about despair, sacrifice and parallel timelines — cute art style masking something closer to existential horror.

But It's anime, it's twelve episodes, and the shift from sugary to bleak might catch newcomers to the genre off guard.

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