Warning: the article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Now that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is haunting theaters, there’s one spine-chilling scene that fans are pointing to as something that won’t soon leave their minds.
The multiverse-traversing film has already been teased in the trailers and promotional material as a vehicle for not only Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, but Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff, continuing her story from where we left her off at the end of the Disney Plus series, WandaVision. Warning: spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to follow.
As some may already be aware, even if you haven’t seen the movie, the film represents the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first foray into horror, under the steady direction of The Evil Dead creator Sam Raimi. In fact, Wanda, now donning her persona as the Scarlet Witch after being corrupted by the evil Darkhold tome, is the main antagonist in the film.
In one key scene, Wanda looks directly into the camera, seemingly straight at the audience, which many fans are praising as a goosebumps-inducing moment.
The Scarlet Witch, using the Darkhold’s power, is able to possess a version of herself, AKA “dreamwalk,” in another dimension, as part of her plot to be reunited with her children that do not exist in her own dimension. When this happens, a rather hallucinatory scene ensues where a Wanda from a different universe, enjoying her suburban life with her kids, gets possessed by the evil version of herself. This is arguably the first sequence in the movie where the Army of Darkness director goes full-tilt Raimi.
After Scarlet Witch’s possession of Wanda is complete, as indicated by her eyes quickly flashing red, she briefly turns to the camera in a chilling, fourth-wall-breaking moment that many fans found frightening.
Despite the film having a disappointing lack of the long-rumored cameo by Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool, another fourth-wall-breaking Marvel character, one Twitter user agreed Wanda’s take at being meta just hits different. It makes us wonder, will the Scarlet Witch soon be invading our dimension, too?
Like many viewers, Wanda peering into our soul is something that lives in our heads “rent free” now.
This excellent mashup of the latest MCU effort with a scene from Scary Movie sums up our reaction at the theater nicely.
That’s not the only part of the film where characters stare directly into the camera, either. In one of the MCU’s most comic book-like moments in recent memory, Patrick Stewart’s Professor X confronts Wanda at one point, with the camera zooming in to both the character’s eyeballs, followed by X facing off with the character in her psyche.
Move over, Hannibal Lecter, because the newest MCU film utilizes characters staring directly into the camera in a way that would give Jonathan Demme nightmares.
Watch Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in theaters now, but prepare to possibly soil yourself in the process.