STACK #213 July 2022

FEATURE MOVIE

Director Sam Raimi was initially reluctant to return to the superhero genre after the hostile reaction to Spider-Man 3 from fans and critics. However, his love of the Doctor Strange character and first movie

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ultimately led to him taking the job. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is Raimi’s first feature as a director since Oz the Great and Powerful in 2013. The title is a nod to H.P. Lovecraft’s classic 1936 horror novella, In the Mountains of Madness . The one-eyed tentacle monster in the film’s opening is known in the Marvel comics as Shuma-Gorath, named after a phrase in Robert E. Howard’s 1967 story The Curse of the Golden Skull . The movie is linked to – and takes place after – the events of WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home .

• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is out on July 13

and streetwise, she possesses great power that she doesn’t fully realise or know how to control. “America’s trying to figure out how to control her powers, and with that comes the crazy ride that is the movie,” explains Xochitl Gomez, 16, who brings a

Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez

Doctor Stephen Strange is in any universe, and what the dangers of that character are,” offers Cumberbatch. “Is he going to be the hero to his enemy, or the enemy to his hero? Who is

fresh breath to the franchise with her youthful portrayal. “She carries this confidence. Even when she’s in a situation and everything is stacked against her, she has confidence. We root for her.” Gomez believes Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to be the perfect introduction for her character in the MCU. “I loved how they put America in a Doctor Strange film, because she has this amazing ability to travel the multiverse. It doesn’t feel forced. I’m so happy that the writers were able to fit America’s story in just perfectly. And I love how young she is – she’s only 14. It’s like, we wouldn’t pick this combo, but it works so well. I think people are going to really like that.”

our Doctor Strange in the multiverse? He’s literally

coming up against versions of himself to figure that out while trying to help this girl, America Chavez, stay alive because of the great power she has to portal through the multiverse.” America is a teenager, however, and like all teenagers she exudes attitude. Gutsy, fearless

Composer Danny Elfman also scored Avengers: Age of Ultron .

Raimi regular Bruce Campbell hams it up in an amusing cameo that recalls his Evil Dead character, Ash.

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