IS IT MAD OR MADNESS?
Isn’t it exciting to write about the latest Marvel thing on a weekly basis? You gotta hand it to the scheduling and release partners at Disney: they know how to keep everyone talking about the latest superhero centerpiece (that goes for Star Wars, too).
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness did an incredible job in its promotional material. Throughout the trailers, there were hints that Wanda Maximoff (the Scarlett Witch) was going to accompany Doctor Strange on a Multiversal adventure. This ends up being true, but Wanda is the antagonist of the film, which paved a way for a horror/superhero mashup (thanks to Director Sam Raimi and his expertise of the genre) that explores the ideas of just how powerful someone in the MCU can be. Turns out with great power comes great potentiality for horror and gore.
And also: just a ton of fun.
Spoilers aside, this is another MCU movie that explores the larger idea of the Multiverse. And, I’m beginning to see a concern:
If there are an infinite number of replacements that can fill in for any given hero dying, what does it matter if someone actually tragically gets killed? Can’t we just, you know, replace them with another variant from another universe?
I immediately thought about Avengers: Endgame when Tony Stark (I suppose spoilers for those who have not seen it…but I’d also ask: what are you even reading this for?) sacrifices himself in order to use the Infinity Stones to stop Thanos. This moment kills Iron Man, as it did Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of the beloved snarky genius/billionaire. Well, by the nature of the Multiverse, what’s to stop another Tony Stark (another that looked exactly like Robert Downey Jr.) to transplant into the current MCU timeline? Does it all mean nothing if we can replace the death of Iron Man with a brand new, fresh-off-the-shelf Multiversal variant?
What about Captain America and his “retirement” to a life with his true love from WW2, Peggie Carter? Do we simply pluck another Captain America (specifically a Chris Evans portrayal of Steve Rogers) from the shelf and continue as though nothing happened?
I think toying with the ideas of loss in this way is dangerous for how we feel about characters. If there are no consequences, why care about death and loss and stakes at all?
And yet, I think this plays out much like the nature of playing video games. In a game, you get infinite lives, infinite chances to complete the level/story/playthrough.There are games that are more brutal than others, that punish the player for dying (any Souls-like game, really), but does that make them more satisfying to beat or meaningful to play if the penalty for losing a life costs that much more?
I think the answer here is no.
If the point is to see the conclusion of the game, perhaps there’s little value in placing strict punishment on the player for dying.
After all, we just want to see what happens next.
And I think this is why we accept the notion of a MCU Multiverse: we care about the characters and respect who they were in any given story. Just because there’s a Tony Stark nearly identical to Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal somewhere out there who could just take over the role…I don’t think that means the original fate of the original Iron Man meant nothing. I think it means just as much because Iron Man isn’t a commodity, he was a beloved character we built a relationship with.
Without that connection, without those key moments, it doesn’t matter how identical a character appears to be, they will never be the same thing as before. So, naturally, we care about BOTH.
And we, the audience, understand the difference.
I think this is encouraging in terms of story evolution. Will we like new properties that have yet to appear such as the Young Avengers and the Illuminati? Yes, I think so. If Marvel has done one thing with the MCU, they have kept things interesting. I want to know what happens next. I don’t know why, but I like what I’ve seen and I want to see more.
If there’s anything a strong story has at its core it is the ability to make the audience want to turn the page and see what happens next.
So, after having watched Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, I say:
“Cool. What’s next?”
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THE BEST TIMELINE OF ROBERTHYMAWRITES.COM
Speaking of multiple universes, is it not likely that this reality (yup, the one you’re reading this from) is not going so well? It’s hard to look around in the year 2022 and think that everything is going swimmingly. It feels like an ancient Egyptian tomb was desecrated and a curse was placed over the land (a never-ending Pandemic, a political landscape close to implosion because of outright zany ideas about racial superiority and those that deserve more than others).
I mean, what’s going on? It feels like opposite world: yes means no, no means yes, and somehow everyone finds it ok to pay for internet when it should be free.
This universe has gone sour.
Naturally, I can only wonder if there’s a reality out there where Robert Hyma (me) is happy and successful with being a writer and owns a similarly titled website (perhaps called something snarkier like “RobertHymaCreates.com, a much more accurate depiction of someone who does more than just write). Maybe in this other universe, I’ve conquered my fear of possible success and showing people the creative works I make and have no problem accepting a compliment or criticism. Maybe I’ve ridden himself of the anxiety of perfectionism and wanting to make everything as great as possible before showing someone.
Yes, in that reality, I would be happily married, with delightful children (who adore and respect me, of course—none of that, “Oh, your kids won’t appreciate you or what you do because MINE sure will…in this reality, that is). I will have found financial stability in a way that lets me give back to my parents and community that has been supportive and paramount in shaping me into the competent writer (creator) I eventually became.
And on and on and on it goes…
Yeah, doesn’t sound half bad.
To be fair, though, I should give myself ONE debilitating attribute. No reality is perfect, so let’s say in the best timeline of Roberthymawrites.com I have a horrible fear of mice. I don’t in this universe, but in the other universe, I’m as afraid as Scooby-Doo and Shaggy are of g-g-g-ghosts! From my fame and name, there are those that still hate my work (which, even in the best universe is ridiculous to me, but hey, it is statistically likely that I’m going to be despised by about 33% of people who know of my work). So, they send package after package of live mice to my rather humble home (probably just outside a major city). Someone graffities a whimsical mouse character on my mailbox, my car, even tossing fake mice at my children as they walk to school (yes, in this universe walking to school is still a thing).
The mice are getting out of hand, and I try to plead with these people to stop harassing my family and home with all the mice. But these mice terrorists are malicious. There’s no convincing them that firing mouse after mouse from home-made catapults is not only a violation of PETA, but causing a huge uptick in maggots and rodents in the area.
I’m still happy, in this other universe, but the mice are a huge problem. Especially for my nerves.
Anyway, that’s another timeline. In THIS timeline, I’m just an anonymous, small-town writer named Robert Hyma attempting to write another Weekly Post-Ed and this was my best idea.
(In many ways, I think I’d take this material over the mice.)
Still, through it all, I remember as the great philosopher René Descartes once said:
“I think (I exist in other universes), therefore I am (probably happier there…minus the rodents).”
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- “Rain On Me” (Purple Disco Machine Remix – Edit) by Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and Purple Disco Machine
- “Ring Starr” by Max Frost
- “Disposable Friends” by AVIV
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Wishing everyone as well as you can be. You’re not alone out there,
