4 Years on, Sam Raimi Admits 1 Problem With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Sam Raimi took the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a more horror-centric direction with his 2022 movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but he sees one thing that he wishes he had done differently. The movie saw Doctor Strange offer to help the Scarlet Witch when she comes to him for assistance, only to learn too late that she has used dark magic and is attempting to bring back her family, even if it means destroying other realities to do so. While there is a lot going on in this movie, Raimi looked back and realized that one very important person in Doctor Strange’s life was shortchanged, and the actress who plays her should have gotten a much bigger role.

According to The Hollywood Reporter in a post on X, Sam Raimi said he had a regret from directing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The site says that he feels that McAdams was “underutilized” in the MCU movie release. In the movie, McAdams’s character, Christine Palmer, had an important role to play in the story, but Raimi feels it could have been bigger.

This comment comes after Sam Raimi’s latest movie, Send Help, is receiving rave reviews, with many critics praising Rachel McAdams’ performance as the protagonist of the film. It seems that, while Raimi is looking back at the movie, he feels Christine could have done more. Christine was in a scene where she was getting married, and Strange was at the ceremony. However, McAdams also played an alternate universe Christine, a scientist from a world with the Illuminati who helps Strange fix things. It wasn’t a minor role, but Raimi feels Christine could have been utilized better.

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What If…? Showed How Important Christine Was For Doctor Strange

It is clear how important Christine Palmer is to Doctor Stephen Strange. She was an important part of the first movie (directed by Scott Derrickson), where she once again helped Strange, as he was still learning his powers. In the sequel, she helped as an alternate world variant of Christine, but was still sidelined for much of the movie as Doctor Strange did all the heavy lifting. This was disappointing, especially after watching What If…? on Disney+.

In What If…?, Christine Palmer died in one world in a car accident with Doctor Strange, unlike the MCU version, where he lost his hands. Instead of becoming a hero as the Sorcerer Supreme, Strange instead wanted to bring Christine back from the dead and began to dabble more in the dark magic that corrupted Wanda Maximoff in the MCU. He failed everytime he tried to bring Christine back from the dead, and that led him to push harder and harder until he began to break the fabric of reality. Her death led him to destroy his universe and almost destroy the multiverse.

Sam Raimi’s comments were clearly about giving an actress as talented as Rachel McAdams more screentime, and he is right. She is a one-time Oscar nominee (Spotlight) and even earned a Tony nomination for Mary Jane. She delivers a spectacular performance in Raimi’s Send Help. However, even more important for MCU fans is how much Christine means to Doctor Strange. Similar to Jane Foster in the Thor franchise, she deserved a lot more respect.

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