Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness first reactions roll in after Marvel premiere

What’s the verdict on the MCU’s ‘first horror movie’?

The verdict on Marvel’s next release, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, has rolled in.

The Marvel sequel hits cinemas on Thursday (5 May), with lead stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen attending the premiere on Monday (2 May).

The film follows on from events seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was released in December. Cumberbatch’s sorceror opened the multiverse in that film, with the new film serving as a universe-hopping adventure, featuring superhero characters old and new.

Directed by Sam Raimi, the film has been called Marvel’s first “horror movie” with “some huge surprises” up its sleeve.

Variety’s senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson said she was going to be “having nightmares about some of those visuals” with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff adding: “I can't imagine a more Sam Raimi MCU film.”

However, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness received a generally mixed reaction, with Gizmodo and io9’s Germain Lussier saying the film “doesn’t always work” as it feels “wildly disjointed, partially on purpose”. (Find The Independent’s two-star rveiew of the film here).

Producer and journalist Simon Thompson said that the film “is a spectacle but this mid-table Marvel is a mixed bag”.

‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ (Marvel Studios)

RogerEbert.com editor Brian Tallerico added: “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Mehness,” while Review Online’s Matt Lynch called it a “crummy-looking, mostly incoherent slog”.

Anyone hoping the flm would have major implications on the remainder of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will be disapppinted by Bro Bible senior writer Eric Italiano’s verdict.

He wrote: “It’s the MCU formula perfected IMO: despite the franchise/multiversal implications and reveals, the film is very much self-contained and focused on its own story and style.”

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released in the UK on 5 May and in the US on 6 May. Find our review of the film here.