It’s always difficult to try and gauge how a movie is going to be received based solely on the initial wave of reactions, which almost always veer into overtly positive territory. That being said, a few folks to have seen Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness didn’t hold back on the negativity, but Sam Raimi’s superhero sequel is riding a wave of critical acclaim now that the embargo has been lifted.
At the time of writing, the 28th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe holds an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes with 66 reviews and counting in the bag, although that number is guaranteed to fluctuate over the coming days. While we’re hardly doomsaying, let’s not forget that Eternals continually trended downwards over the course of the days and weeks following its release, but it’s more likely Doctor Strange 2 will hover around the number it’s currently at.
Most of the praise is being leveled at director Sam Raimi, who many thought would have his natural stylistic and horror-infused sensibilities watered down by the Disney and Marvel Studios machine, despite all and sundry repeatedly reassuring us that Multiverse of Madness would be the scariest film in the long-running franchise yet.
With the 14th anniversary of Iron Man‘s release, and the 20th since Raimi’s own Spider-Man hitting theaters already occurring this week, the guaranteed box office bonanza to greet Benedict Cumberbatch’s second solo outing is going to make this a seven-day span to remember for Marvel fans all over the world.