The Making and Behind the scene of Doctor Strange In the Multiverse Of Madness

Chaos. If I could describe the film in one word, it would be chaos. With the ever-changing storyline, delays, and new challenges that arose with the universe cracking wide open in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, it's no surprise that getting this movie made was pure and utter chaos. Are you ready to hear about the insanity they endured to get it made? MCU as a whole, but I just really want them to throw out what they want next. Number 1. The Multiverse is real in our world too. Multiple films shooting at the same time led to the script not being finalized until the shooting day. And even then, things were changing on the spot. The only thing that didn't change in the filming of this film was the title. Now that they're moving into this huge new phase of the multiverse where they are drawing off other productions that are overlapping, like Spider-Man and WandaVision, there could be a ripple effect, which would cause Doctor Strange's script to change to keep up with continuity. That's another added complication to an already complicated piece. So essentially, they couldn't nail down their ending until all of the pieces were known and were writing the script as they went. We imagine they had an ever-evolving draft of the script and weren't just working with 30 pages and hoping it all came together. If there was no draft, then they at least had their plot points locked in. Elizabeth Olsen had very little idea what people would even see in theaters. The script changed a lot, right? And I don't really know what it changed to. Olsen jumped right from WandaVision into the multiverse. The pitch she received was mind-blowing. I was terrified. It just sounded like such a challenge for her. It was fun transitioning from her experience to this movie. And Olsen had a ton of questions about how the multiverse worked. Palmer did, too. We imagine one of those questions was, Benedict Cumberbatch acting opposite himself was a unique challenge for him. It doesn't get weirder than playing Dr. Strange. He joked about his other self being lazy and hanging out in his trailer while he was on set working his butt off. Best Cumberbatch yet! It can't be easy not having an acting partner to give those authentic performances. I think it felt freeing for him to get to be in other versions of himself's shoes. But when you're a seasoned pro, it can't be too much of a challenge either. It's a bit clumsy and they went, it's great. It's very unique. It's different. Number 3 Just because characters are in the same scene doesn't mean they filmed on the same day. Despite finally merging into the same cinematic world, Elizabeth Olsen never even met some of the actors in the movie. That includes both John Krasinski and Patrick Stewart. It was all done by the power of movie magic. I was just me and a green screen and no other actor. Hug your ears. Number 4 All these years later and there's still new stunts to explore. The multiverse introduced new flying stunts for Elizabeth Olsen. There are ways we use her flying that we haven't seen before. You'd think Olsen would be a seasoned veteran at this point, and there wouldn't be many flying stunts she hasn't done before. We are constantly impressed by the innovation of Marvel Studios. There were a few rigs I'd never experienced before on this. Number 5 This is the Doctor Strange sequel that was made in an alternate universe. The original script for Doctor Strange 2 was scrapped when their director Scott Derrickson quit. Just imagine what kind of movie we would have if he'd stayed on board. We get the sense his version never brought back Doctor Palmer, given she didn't get the call for quite a while. Alas, it is a secret we will never be privy to, probably. It's kind of got a little bit of everything for everybody. It's a bit of a genre buster, this. Number 6 Usually reshoots spell trouble. Doctor Strange had six weeks of reshoots in early 2022, so the release was pushed to May. They were working with an incredibly complex plot, and seeing as it's paved the way for the next phase of Marvel, it was important they get it right. I thought I would regret not doing it more than I regret doing it, even though it makes me cringe a bit to watch it. Reshoots were in response to test screenings, where they learned what confused the audience, and what moments didn't land or were over-explained. Raimi's first 2 hour and 40 minute cut was trimmed down to 2 hours and 10 minutes. That was before the reshoots that replaced other scenes. This is an epic film. Fans of Sam Raimi are gonna love it. Number 7 Actually, we will leave this to Cumberbatch. Benedict Cumberbatch had to get ripped for the Doctor Strange sequel, and we gather that's because, for the first time, he's using his hands for more than just magic, but for fights as well. As Cumberbatch put it, there's a lot more that he's asked to do in this, and also some physical stuff that doesn't involve magic that is just about hand-to-hand stuff. There's a lot of reasons why I like acting, but one of them is to sort of do things that are outside of my comfort zone. Number 8 Good luck. You're going to need it, Raimi. To introduce beloved characters from the X-Men universe and Fantastic Four is a lot of weight on Sam Raimi's shoulders, especially so after 2005's Fantastic Four and the reboot. Now we've got Krasinski joining the movie as Mr. Fantastic, and Patrick Stewart back as Professor X. We've been waiting for this day since Disney acquired 21st Century Fox way back in 2019, when it was still stuck in the 20th century. But honestly, we've really been waiting for like a decade for this moment. Number 9 The world has changed since 2001's Spider-Man. Sam Raimi really leaned into the horror in this one, a tone Marvel hasn't really done in the movies yet. But despite what everyone thinks, he wasn't trying to force his own directing style onto the movie. Everything he did was in service of Doctor Strange 2, not in service of him. And on set, anyone will tell you he's a fun and playful guy. This movie was a walk in the park for Raimi compared to Spider-Man. Back in 2001, he had to be a lot more innovative. The team had to make the tools to make the tools, and that was an exhausting process. But now that's all been created and is at his disposal thanks to the generous budget. But jumping into the universe after over a decade of movies meant Raimi had a team of people behind him to make sure nothing he wrote contradicted anything in previous movies. All of those things were giving us direction as to where we should go. Number 10 Playing two versions of the same character is a challenge. Rachel McAdams didn't know if she would even be part of the multiverse at first. And when she first got the call, she was told she'd be playing three different versions of herself. Which, thanks to the ever-changing script, was trimmed down to two. Her challenge with playing the other Christine was the fine line between keeping Palmer recognizable and making this other one unsettling and unnerving. She really enjoyed getting out of the hospital settings and seeing the beautiful detail in the sets like the Sanctum Sanctorum. The Sanctum is extraordinary. Number 11 Remember when the world went weird over a teenage Peter Parker? Sochi Gomez played a younger version of America Chavez than even the comics has ever done. In this movie, we kind of get to have like a new introduction to her. It was a challenge to keep America's personality the same. And what they found was they had to keep the confidence and just make her less experienced. It's so crazy that I get to be that person. Number 12 Spoilers ahead! Just kidding, those already happened. The real villain for the production was Covid. Sort of. It was more like an anti-hero for Sam Raimi. It gave him time to rethink the script. But they also worked themselves to the bone trying to accommodate all the Covid requirements so they could keep filming. Cumberbatch said, I lost count of how many lockdowns we actually filmed through. The reason they were able to continue, Cumberbatch said, was this government's approved gold standard of testing and tracing and a huge amount of sacrifice. This is nuts. He admitted, It's been tough. I'll be honest with you. It's had quite a journey, this film. It's been tough for everyone. I'm having a really good time being your Doctor Strange. And I enjoy it. The multiverse truly is mad. You couldn't have packed more chaos into the pre-production if you tried. Do you think Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was worth the chaos? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. And thanks for hanging out with us here at The Things.