Film Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025)

Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness

Name: Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness
Released: 2022-05-06
Duration: 126 min
Rating: 7.2
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Xochitl Gomez, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong

"Enter a new dimension of Strange."

Released May 6, 2022 2h 6m ★ 7.2TMDB ★ Essential

Doctor Strange, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.

Watch note

Wanda (Scarlet Witch) is the villain — she dreamwalks universes to find her children, destroying the Illuminati including Professor X. Incursions (universe-collisions) are introduced as the multiverse's great danger. Strange confirmed for Doomsday.

Why It Matters in the MCU

Sam Raimi's entry in the Strange series is the most stylistically distinct MCU film since Ragnarok — the horror-cinema grammar he imports (jump cuts, crash zooms, demonic possession) is unmistakable and produces the franchise's most genuinely frightening sequences. Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch pivot from hero to antagonist is the logical endpoint of her WandaVision arc, and the film commits to it fully rather than walking it back. The Illuminati sequence is the most concentrated multiversal fan-service in the franchise, though the willingness to immediately incinerate those characters preserves the film's dramatic integrity.

Watch These First

20 titles lead into Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness — 51 hours in total, 15 of them essential.

Captain America: The First Avenger Essential 2h 4m ★ 7.0
Thor Essential 1h 55m ★ 6.8
The Avengers Essential 2h 23m ★ 8.1
Iron Man 3 2h 10m ★ 6.9
Thor: The Dark World 1h 52m ★ 6.5
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Essential 2h 16m ★ 7.7
Guardians of the Galaxy Essential 2h 1m ★ 7.9
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 2h 16m ★ 7.6
Avengers: Age of Ultron Essential 2h 21m ★ 7.3
Captain America: Civil War Essential 2h 27m ★ 7.4
Black Panther Essential 2h 14m ★ 7.4
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2h 13m ★ 7.3
Doctor Strange Essential 1h 55m ★ 7.4
Thor: Ragnarok Essential 2h 10m ★ 7.6
Avengers: Infinity War Essential 2h 29m ★ 8.2
Avengers: Endgame Essential 3h 2m ★ 8.2
WandaVision (Season 1) Essential 6h ★ 8.2
Loki (Season 1) Essential 5h ★ 8.2
Spider-Man: Far From Home 2h 9m ★ 7.4
Spider-Man: No Way Home Essential 2h 28m ★ 7.9

Create a watch plan for these 20

Opens the planner with just these titles, so you can set your own pace.

Where It Fits in the MCU

Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness sits at position 130 of 165 in the MCU's story-chronological order, placing it within the Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025) era. It is rated Essential — must-watch for following the main MCU narrative. Watching in story-chronological order provides the most coherent character development experience — individual arcs build naturally toward the franchise's major crossover events, with each film's post-credits scenes carrying forward into what follows.