La Ron S. Readus
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How I'd Change Scarlet Witch in Multiverse of Madness (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2022-07-06 20:00:04 +0000 UTCDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was...a movie.
A well directed movie, but a movie nonetheless
Y’see, my problem was that, considering who the director was, I decided to walk in the movie with SOME expectations instead of none at all.
Because as I discovered after the movie was made available on Disney Plus in late June 2022, while it was allowed to have Raimi’s visual stamps of approval that we all love, apparently he had to fight with Feige in order for some of them to make it into the final cut
Now I’m more than happy to admit that the reasons my expectations were at the level that they were was because like Spider-Man, Raimi is a fan of Doctor Strange
/And while the premise was centered around this being a must-see movie in order to better flesh out and explain some stuff in the Multiverse Saga that Loki didn’t get a chance to explain, I was hoping Raimi would use this movie as a chance to rectify some things that the first Doctor Strange movie -- and even the Infinity Saga as a whole real talk -- kinda did dirty regarding not only Strange’s mythos, but also better establish the magical elements of the MCU that were brought over from the comics./
Not only did the movie...NOT do that
/But it also kinda misinterpreted Wanda’s development from WandaVision by going ahead with what a lot of people initially thought was going to happen once they announced Scarlet Witch would be in the film during San Diego Comic Con of 2019; the decision to just straight up make Wanda the film’s villain./
Now don’t get me wrong; this decision gave us some BEAUTIFULLY horrifying visuals and feats of power we anticipated from Wanda since she solo’d Thanos in Endgame. And for a lot of people, that’s what they initially went to see Multiverse of Madness for
/But outside of Strange bonding and growing to care for America Chavez and also learning the importance of letting go -- Especially when you realize thanks to the mid-credit scene that Strange letting go is basically a set up for this faith-based meme -- there’s nothing really about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that makes it a true Doctor Strange movie like all the Iron Man, the first two Captain America, and correctly assuming all the Guardians of the Galaxy stories in the MCU just so happen to be. Nor does it grant Wanda the proper payoff one would expect from her considering what WandaVision was leading up to and what was presented regarding her status in Multiverse of Madness./
Both Wanda and Strange’s lore deserved more than just this film being used as a setup for future plot devices in The Multiverse Saga, despite there being more than enough room for everyone. And I think my adjustments to the film are just what it needs to make this Raimi flick up there with Spider-Man 2. Let’s begin.
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Hey, Readers. La’Ron here. Offering you analysis and perspective on your favorite bits of geek and pop culture media
If it wasn’t obvious from the intro, this video will in fact contain spoilers for Marvel Studios’’ Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse of Madness. It’s currently available to stream on Disney Plus, so give it a watch before continuing here if you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want me to spoil pivotal points of it for you in this video.
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That’s the syllabus. Now onto the lesson.
Raimi’s Direction Was NOT The Problem
I’m sorry for everyone who thought that this was just gonna be a riff on Sam Raimi, but that’s not the case
Actually, considering what the thumbnail of this video is, I’m actually quite surprised you thought that was the case, real talk.
Then again, I can’t really say that. There are alt right fans of The Boys who took 3 seasons to start to figure out that Homelander is actually a bad guy, so...
What Sam Raimi brought to the table with Multiverse of Madness was individuality, which is what a lot of people who didn’t want so much of a change from the formula the MCU provided for the past 3 phases...were initially complaining about.
Hell, I’d argue that the same “compliment from me, complaint from others” can also be made of Eternals, considering how many people complained about how different of a movie it was from other Marvel Studios films, yet I enjoyed it for it being what I deemed a more mature Guardians of the Galaxy.
/While the first movie brought psychedelic and kaleidoscopic visuals that at the time felt incredibly unique, yet soon overstayed their welcome the more that they were associated with him, Sam Raimi definitely knew not only how to bring the magic back to Doctor Strange, but also highlight how dangerous and terrifying Scarlet Witch can be/
But the root of my critiques of the film -- both regarding Stephen AND Wanda’s characterization and development -- do not lie with the man responsible for making this film possible.
It lies with the one responsible for giving him what he had to work with. The writer of the film Michael Waldron
/Who was brought on to write Mutliverse of Madness in February 2020 after OG director and writer Scott Derrickson and Jade Bartlett left the project respectively for creative differences./ The Playlist - Waldron 1
Now he’s gone on to admit that thanks to COVID, a lot of what was originally conceived for the film was scrapped in favor of what we got. And considering that he was the creator and season 1 showrunner of Loki, it was obvious that he was brought on to help transition the movie’s story into the overall impending Multiverse Saga.
Or Secret Wars arc; whichever sounds better to you.
He did so by implementing a few key aspects that’ll definitely be referenced later on the closer we get to Kang’s interaction with the world’s mightiest heroes and beyond.
/Specifically incursions; the event of two or more multiversal timeline branches crossing over and possibly resulting in either one or both of them being completely destroyed./
And while it’s Sam’s direction and care that helped us be both terrified of and empathetic for Wanda like he succeeded to do with most of his comic book villains under his direction...
It seems that outside of Waldron planting the seeds to make Secret Wars a thing and wanting to show off how powerful she is when confronted with a group of superheroes, we don’t even get that much care and dedication to either Stephen Strange’s overall mythology from the comics and how it can translate into the MCU, or the same for Wanda in the decision to make her the film’s antagonist
/Especially since he knew first-hand by witnessing WandaVision, just how beloved both her and the exposition that was forming around her in the MCU from key aspects about her from the comics were becoming./ The Playlist - Waldron 2
Aspects, like both the Darkhold -- which was carried over from WandaVision and plays an important part in Multiverse of Madness -- and Cthon, who was only mentioned in Multiverse of Madness, yet plays just an equal part in Wanda’s character in the comics.
Speaking of Cthon...
If you’ve been with this channel for the past couple years, then you know that one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to Marvel Studios productions is for event-based storylines or guest heroes and members of their respective pantheons to hijack someone else’s solo movie. That’s partially why I didn’t care for Civil War
/Y’know, outside of everyone but T’Challa deciding to drink the Kool-Aid.../
/And also partially why I didn’t appreciate them using Thor: Ragnarok as a vehicle to tell a variant of a Planet Hulk story so that they didn’t have to pay rights to Universal Studios in order to do so./
And if you’ve watched a couple of my MCU theory videos in the past, then you know I had that same worry regarding one of Wanda’s villains C’thon ending up being the main villain of Multiverse of Madness
(Huffs) Well, I’ll tell you what. After...WATCHING Multiverse of Madness, and seeing how they treated the “Doctor Strange” portions of the movie... I, uh... I kinda wish they made C’thon the bad guy.
/Yes, I’m mad about how they used Shuma Gorath in the movie and kinda glad in retrospect that they weren’t allowed to call him Shuma Gorath in the movie for legal reasons, because I didn’t appreciate it that they just made him a creature that Wanda could easily control with the power of the Darkhold to find America instead of a deity that’s, y’know, on par with Cthon power-wise. But one thing at a time.../
If I can compare C’thon to a villain in the DC universe, it would have to be Trigon, the demon father of Teen Titan’s Raven.
In the comics, Cthon bound his spirit to Wanda when she was born after the Knights of Wundagore -- /yes, THAT Wundagore/ -- tried to banish him after a werewolf knight tried to Lesser Keys of Solomon him in order to cure him of his lycanthropy.
Comic books. Gotta love ‘em, unless they’re racist!
Now part of the reason WHY Cthon bound himself to Wanda was because, as you’d expect, she’s a Nexus Being.
/Which in the MCU was alluded to in WandaVision through one of the commercials of the various sitcoms we see her play out./
And imprinting himself on a nexus being so early, allowed him to use said Nexus being to be his avatar in the physical plane later on down the line once they matured in their power.
Cthon bound himself to Wanda when she was born for this purpose. And because he has dominion over ALL chaos magic, being the author of the Darkhold in the first place...
/He was able to grant her the innate abilities she has over Chaos Magic that we know her for today./ (This is Chaos Magic Wanda. And that makes you a Scarlet Witch)
So, as you imagine, there are PLENTY of stories in which Cthon has tried to possess Wanda for himself, or those close to her in ORDER to possess Wanda
/And while in the MCU we’ve seen how the Darkhold affects regular-degular mages like Agatha Harkness and Stephen Strange after prolonged use, I thought upon watching her heel shift in Multiverse of Madness that, considering she IS a confirmed Nexus being in the MCU thanks to WandaVision, that HER prolonged interaction with the Darkhold would reflect something like, Cthon’s increased connection to her now that she’s using the Darkhold allowing him to manipulate her mental state to seek her children through the multiverse by any means necessary so that he can finally claim her as his avatar to once more wreak havoc on the Physical Plane./
And for a minute, I thought we were going to get that, especially when the movie introduced us to Mt. Wundagore.
I thought that would be the explanation as to why Wanda decided to go as dark and brutal as she did; that this was Cthon amplifying all of her insecurities, grief and rage that she always kept inside since that explosion first killed her and Pietro’s parents.
/I thought this was the moment she realized the microchip on the back of her neck fried, and now the AI in the four metal tentacles were feeding off of her already present desires and encouraging her to act on them in the most direct, diabolical and deadliest ways possible./
But that’s not what happens.
/There’s no manifestation of Agatha’s warning of higher powers now aware of a shift in things once Wanda first accepted the mantle of Scarlet Witch. There’s no recollection of what she did in Westview TRULY playing a role in her actions regarding why she’s doing what she’s doing, or of the one that had faith in her when others didn’t that’s tugging at her strings in the midst of everything she’s consciously and willingly decide to do. It’s just her, because Marvel didn’t feel like introducing another “Dormammu” when, considering everything she’s been through and learned, might actually be what the story needs./
So Let’s Rectify That.
One of the things I do not like that Marvel Studios does with its magical and celestial characters -- at least in film -- is that it limits them by oversimplifying them.
The Vishanti are perfect examples. In the comics, the Vishanti are elder beings that consist of Hoggoth, Oshtur and Agamotto -- their offspring -- who broke the laws of non-interference amongst the others like them, and both chose and aid the best mortal mage to be Earth’s defender of the mystic arts as the Sorcerer Supreme.
/In the MCU however, thanks to the first movie establishing Agamotto as such, the Vishanti were just powerful sorcerers, his eye is just the housing for the Time Stone, and nobody knows the exact role of the Sorcerer Supreme/
Can you tell that I REALLY care about the state of magic in superhero comics?!?!
/In a way, Cthon is treated the same way. Instead of an eldritch god-like being that birthed chaos magic, Multiverse of Madness simply calls him the first demon./
So one of the first things I would do is use the Book of Vishanti B-plot to not only give a well-deserved retcon of all these VERY important beings and quickly establish their place as such in the MCU...
/But also use it for Strange to figure out what’s going on with Wanda./
If you’ve been following along with the video, then yes; you are correct in assuming that I’m going the route of Wanda having her desire to find Billy and Tommy being manipulated by Cthon now that she’s the Scarlet Witch and that she’s engrossed herself in the Darkhold in order to claim her as his avatar.
Not only does this shut the mouths of those who’s only knowledge of film criticism is on the cynical level of CinemaSins regarding why she didn’t just seek out a universe where her kids and Vision exists and she doesn’t...
/But it also helps set Wanda up for a redemption worthy of her overall struggle that’s on par with what Sam Raimi is known for with his antagonists -- i’ll elaborate more on that a little bit later -- while also not denying the crowd of seeing Wanda just wreck house for the majority of the film./
Wong finds this out by reading a portion of the mural that wasn’t copied into the Darkhold...
/Claiming that the Scarlet Witch is only destined to destroy the world because she’s supposed to be the vessel for Cthon’s return. That’s why the creatures don’t attack her when she first arrives at Wundagore, but bow. They don’t serve her, they serve Cthon. They can tell that she’s ready to be possessed by him and don’t want to ruin his vessel./
We start to see and hear Cthon’s manipulation a bit more clearer than before.
/And we DEFINITELY would’ve seen and heard it before. Probably during the siege of Kamar-Taj./
Now Wong is aware of what’s going on, and he’s trying to reach her and let her know she’s being manipulated via her desire for her children. But Cthon’s essence and speech is telling her he’s lying -- through an amalgamation of his and her own voice to up the creepy and “this is my own thought” factor --
/And that’s what prompts Wong’s projection off the temple cliff. So while Wanda believes this to be not a tomb but a throne, her preparations to dreamwalk to 838 to find America show that it isn’t a throne, it’s an altar./
Meanwhile, Strange finds out about Cthon’s plans when he, America and 838 Christine finally reach the Book of Vishanti, because I’ll give them enough time to ACTUALLY READ SOME STUFF before dreamwalked Wanda arrives to destroy it.
I’d have him specifically turn to a page that chronicled Agamotto’s bouts with Cthon in the past, journaling information he found out about how Cthon tries to find his way to the material plane through possessing powerful mages that read his Darkhold and can innately cast the magic he has dominion over; chaos magic.
That he -- along with his two Elder God parents, Hoggoth and Osthur -- actually sealed Cthon away in his home dimension confident that a mage strong in Chaos Magic wouldn’t arrive in the physical plane because of his inability to interfere.
Not only does this reveal to Strange that Agamotto was a mage created by gods that ascended to principality status, but that Wanda is being manipulated by Cthon with the intention of possessing her. Then right as he’s about to turn the page to read what Agamotto wrote down regarding what to do if said Scarlet Witch arrives in order to separate Cthon’s hold on them, THAT’S when dreamwalked Wanda arrives.
/But instead of destroying the book, I’d have it so that the blast sends it spiraling into the infinite space between universes so it can be utilized in a later story./
From there, I’d pretty much keep the story on track regarding Stephen and 838 Christine being sent to a universe where its variant of Strange is the only survivor of an incursion.
/Including him dream-walking back to the sacred timeline in his dead variants body to fight Wanda./
Only now, Cthon’s hold on her has gotten visually noticeable despite her being unable to notice herself.
So while the fight between her, Strange and Wong is pretty much unchanged -- especially now that they all know that it’s Cthon working through her -- Strange helping boost America’s confidence in her power consists of a wombo combo of sending Wanda to her 838 variant home /the same time Strange does a modified astral projection spell on her in order to separate her from Cthon./
Now that Wanda is physically separated from Cthon’s hold on her and she sees what she’s become, her “I will not die a monster” moment has a bit more meaning.
She acknowledges that while she was egged on by Cthon, there were aspects about what she was doing that resonated with her; that thanks to them already being there, Cthon simply just grew those desires to a full-fledged wildfire from a small kindling in order to make it easier for him to take advantage of her.
And it’s through that acknowledgement that 838 Wanda helps her realize something. Despite everything she’s done to get to this point, Wanda isn’t done healing yet.
/Instead of seeking help from someone that can help her cope with all of her past and current traumas -- the loss of Pietro and Vision, the world making her the scapegoat for the Sokovia Accords, being consciously aware of what she was doing in Westview, and now the fact that her children exist in another universe -- she decided to face them head on without a support network and exposed herself to dangerous forces that were counting on her to be reckless as a result./
So until she can actually make good on rectifying a few things to give her that support she desperately needs, she has to take the traumas that Cthon has been feeding on and use them to help others. And the others in this case are Stephen, Wong and America fight Cthon.
Which is definitely happening back on Wundagore while Wanda’s going through this, by the way. Because there’s no housing for what’s been established of his physicality so far, an ethereal manifestation of Cthon is now at the altar of the Scarlet Witch.
/But while Stephen and Wong are keeping him at bay, America is waiting for Wanda to understand the gravity of the situation so she can bring her back to help. She does so, giving her the opportunity to defy Cthon directly./
And that’s exactly what’s needed for prime Strange’s Eye of Agamotto to activate and give his dreamwalking body the power to banish him back to his home dimension.
You see, one of the features the Eye has in the comics that’s KINDA reflected in the movies is that the Eye of Agamotto is one of the only magical items that stays with its wielder and can be used while astral projecting.
/And considering that dreamwalking is a FORM of astral projection and that Multiverse of Madness does good at showing that the Eye is more than just the previous housing compartment for the Time Stone, having it act on its own to have its power traverse the multiverse just to banish Cthon after sensing his vessel has denied him while in the presence of the Sorcerer Supreme, gives us a perfect opportunity to put some respect back on this artifact./
Not to mention doing so under these circumstances will give the title of the Sorcerer Supreme in the MCU some much needed association with the Vishanti like there is in the comics.
/Which upon Wanda staying behind to destroy the temple in order to make sure the Darkhold ceases to exist so that there’s no way Cthon can use it to re-enter their world and as a way for her to finish off her “I will not die a monster” redemption arc, will give Strange and Wong more motive to research the Vishanti and find the book somewhere in the space between spaces and see what associations they have with the Sorcerer Supreme, since according to both movies they have very little knowledge of them./
Is this a Deus Ex Machina? Yes.
Do I care? No. No, y’all had an entire 3-phase SAGA dedicated to Deus Ex Machina’s. Mamma said it’s MY turn to use the Deus Ex Machina; fuck you.
Conclusion
Now I honestly can’t take full credit regarding my use of Cthon in this reworking
/Right now my YouTube mutual and fellow bi boy Troy over on Fanboy Rewrites is currently pitching his idea for a Spider-Man college years trilogy in the MCU following No Way Home, and how he handled the use of the Symbiote for the second story in his trilogy I thought was a brilliant way to apply the manipulation and aggressiveness of outside forces affecting preconceived thoughts and desires. I definitely recommend you give his pitches a watch if you don’t already./
See that Nerdist? See what I just did? That’s called REFERENCING someone’s work that did what I did FIRST, regardless if they ended up being just as right or wrong as you. You should try it sometime!
Readers, I love superhero magic. I love superhero magic mythologies and pantheons. Hell, I just love magic in fiction in general
And honestly, the fact that the only way Marvel Studios truly gives it the respect it deserves is in the form of its two Disney Plus exclusive shows WandaVision and Moon Knight -- three if you count the upcoming Agatha: House of Harkness -- is criminal.
Now, this is usually the part of my pitch idea videos where I go “now the fact that I can come up with something like this and I don’t even vibe with XYZ like that says a lot.” But I DO!
I DO vibe with this aspect of Marvel like that! AND DC!
I fucking LOVE MAGIC!
Stop watering down magic like this y’all; I’m fucking STARVING!
(HELP ME Clip from Critical Role)
But, I digress, Readers. Your homework assignment for the day:
Write in the comment section below what you thought of Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse of Madness if you’ve seen it
Or if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, what YOU’D change about the movie in order to better do justice to anything that the movie initially touched on.
Whether that be Stephen’s development, Wanda’s development, the state of magic in the MCU or anything else.
Whichever question you decide to answer, I’d LOVE to know your thoughts.
/A HUGE shoutout to my Patrons both big and small for helping make this channel possible.
Make sure you check out the card at the end of the video to join, or click the link to it or any of my affiliates in the description box below.
But until then, this is Readus 101. Class dismissed./
