Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is one of Marvel Studios' most secretive upcoming projects, but The Cosmic Circus claims to have learned some new details about what we should expect.
Up until this point, there have been a lot of conflicting theories about whether the Scarlet Witch will be an antagonist or protagonist following the events of WandaVision. Now, the site reveals that two years will have passed since we last saw Wanda Maximoff in WandaVision, and it sounds like the Avenger's time with the Darkhold has definitely had an impact on her outlook.
Apparently, the Doctor Strange sequel will find the Sorcerer Supreme forced to make a difficult choice: abide by the Hippocratic Oath he took as a doctor to do no harm or kill someone who is putting reality itself at risk. That person is the Scarlet Witch, as "Wanda’s actions will force Stephen and the Sorcerors of Kamar Taj (among others) to intervene in an attempt to subdue Wanda."
The site adds that Agatha Harkness' prophecy about the risk Wanda poses will finally come true here, but as the Scarlet Witch's powers increase, the threat she poses "will be far too much for any one person to handle." Ultimately, Strange will need to choose between attempting to save Wanda's life or ending it, "with the Multiverse paying the consequences for his decision."
There's a lot to digest here, though this does line up with what we expected to see in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Wanda is more than likely tearing her way through the Multiverse to find Billy and Tommy, which could reality at serious risk of being destroyed.
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superhero movie sequels that ended up disappointing!
10. Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer
Despite being an improvement on 2005’s cheesy Fantastic Four (not exactly difficult), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was still a terrible movie that again made far too many mistakes when it came to bringing these fan favourite comic book characters to life on screen.
Apart from Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, these heroes were mostly portrayed completely out of character, and bringing back Julian McMahon as Doctor Doom – sans the scars which are pretty much the entire reason he hates the team – would prove to be a huge error in judgement. We got a little closer to the version from the comics...and then he started flying around on a surfboard.
Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne did a good job playing Silver Surfer, but as fans eagerly awaited the presence of the World Devourer Galactus, they were rewarded with...a cloud.
9. Superman Returns
Bryan Singer’s seemingly had good intentions when it came to Superman Returns, but his efforts to recapture the magic of Richard Donner’s classic Superman movies would prove to be an ill-advised decision for a modern audience.
Paying homage to outdated movies (that many younger viewers may have never seen) wasn’t the smartest decision, and comic book fans who had become used to incredible special effects and intense action scenes as technology continued to improve were no longer wowed by just believing that a man could fly.
Lex Luthor’s dull plan, a Superman who never even threw a punch, and a peculiar (and widely ridiculed) storyline featuring the Man of Steel spying on his ex – as well as being a deadbeat dad – capped off one of the worst big screen outings for the iconic DC superhero ever.
8. Blade: Trinity
The first two Blade movies flew under many people’s radars, perhaps because they were R-Rated and based on a relatively obscure character.
Despite that, both were critical and commercial successes, and the third had the potential to be the best yet. Unfortunately, a ridiculous amount of supporting characters and an appalling villain in the form of Dominic Purcell’s Dracula resulted in a mess, all courtesy of writer and director David S. Goyer.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, an appalling turn from wrestler Triple H (incredible in the ring, not so much on a movie set) capped off the dull, watered-down version of a vampire franchise that had clearly become too long in the tooth by this point. A short-lived TV series would follow, and a reboot is finally in development from Marvel Studios we hope will help us forget this ever existed!
7. Ant-Man And The Wasp
2015's Ant-Man probably wasn't as good as it would have been had Edgar Wright been at the helm, but Peyton Reed still did a great job of bringing this corner of the MCU to life on screen.
There was a lot to love about the 2018 sequel, of course, but it simply didn't live up to expectations. Ghost was a lousy villain, while the promised exploration of the Quantum Zone ended up being a couple of scenes at the end of the movie. Janet Van Dyne's time there was barely addressed, while the fact she came back with additional powers was completely overlooked!
We did love seeing The Wasp take centre stage, but this sequel didn't do a particularly good job of dealing with the fallout from Captain America: Civil War or setting the stage for Avengers: Infinity War. This is a lower-tier Marvel Studios movie, and we just hope the next one is an improvement.
6. Elektra
While not a direct sequel to Daredevil, Elektra did continue the story of one of that movie’s main characters, while a deleted scene even touched directly on her relationship with The Man Without Fear.
Sadly, Elektra’s solo outing – which really should have been an awesome female-led action blockbuster if her comic book adventures were anything to go – proved to be as ill-advised as Fox’s previous take on this corner of the Marvel Universe. Saddled with a silly plot, terrible acting, and a low-budget feel, there was little to love about this movie.
On the plus side, Jennifer Garner did look pretty great in that costume, though it's not like that was enough to save everything else we saw on screen! Movies like Elektra (and Catwoman) are why it's only now, in 2021, that we're finally starting to see more female-led superhero movies. They set the genre back that much.
5. Spider-Man 3
Where did it all go wrong? Sam Raimi crafted two spectacular movies with Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 (the latter is still considered one of the best superhero movies of all time by fans), and this could have either been a grand finale or a continuation of a series that had seemingly done no wrong from day one.
With Venom, Sandman and Harry Osborn – who had discovered his father’s cache of Goblin gear at the end of the last movie – all gunning for the iconic Marvel character, this sequel should have topped the two which preceded it.
Sadly, that was not the case, and each of the villains was handled incredibly poorly. There just wasn’t enough room for three bad guys, and a variety of bizarre decisions like Spidey dancing down the street and JJJ’s heart medication made this a cringe-worthy outing that would keep the character out of cinemas for five years.
4. X-Men: The Last Stand
Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies took a lot of liberties with the source material, but the disgraced filmmaker still did an effective enough job bringing the team to the big screen.
Unfortunately, Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand – which was lumbered with a terrible script and an array of insane character decisions – would kick off this franchise's bad habit of throwing in countless mutants for the sake of it. As if those unnecessary cameos weren’t bad enough, the story and tone were all over the place.
To make matters worse, it dropped the ball on two huge comic book storylines: the iconic "Dark Phoenix Saga" and "The Cure." How Simon Kinberg (who penned the aforementioned appalling screenplay) managed to stay involved with this series right up to Dark Phoenix is truly beyond us.
3. Wonder Woman 1984
Objectively speaking, Wonder Woman 1984 isn't a bad movie (we're sure some of you will disagree with that statement). The sequel certainly went on quite the ride, and was "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes before more critics weighed in and it ultimately earned the dreaded "Rotten" status.
Compared to 2017's Wonder Woman, this sequel is undeniably bad and those fun 1980s visuals just felt old hat by the time the movie was finally released. The MacGuffin was a cliche, and characters like Maxwell Lord and Cheetah (poor Cheetah) were wasted in an almost unforgivable way.
There's lots to love about this one, but if we're talking about disappointing sequels, we have to mention Wonder Woman 1984. Revisiting the Steve Trevor romance was fun, but it's clearly time for this franchise to move to the present day because living in the past really isn't a good look for Diana Prince.
2. Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance
Nicolas Cage’s first crack at Ghost Rider was appalling, but Sony still thought it would be a good idea to bring the actor back as the supernatural superhero for a second time...with Crank directors Neveldine/Taylor at the helm. Sony's gonna Sony.
The trailers and clips released before the sequel arrived in theaters actually made it look like it might at least be fun, but we would soon learn that wasn't the case. This was one of the trashiest superhero movies to ever grace the big screen, and the fact it came out the same year as movies like Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor only highlighted how terrible it was.
Thanks to Nic Cage’s hammy performance and a laughably bad script, not even strong special effects and fast-paced action scenes could save this mess. The reception to this was so bad that Sony didn't even hesitate to allow the rights to Ghost Rider return to Marvel Studios.
1. Batman Forever
This was it. This was where they made their debut. You know what we’re talking about. Those. The Batsuit’s "Bat-nipples." They were just one of many camp and confusing design choices employed by director Joel Schumacher for his take on the Caped Crusader, and an unbelievably huge departure from the gothic tone set previously by Tim Burton’s films.
While you can’t blame Schumacher for not wanting to imitate his predecessor, what possessed him to turn Batman’s world into a colourful, ugly place is still unknown to this day (although it’s a safe bet to say toy sales played a role in it).
Throw in Jim Carrey’s Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones’ weird take on Two-Face, and Batman Forever is somehow even more camp than the ridiculous 1960’s TV series. Perhaps that was the point, but after the highs of Batman and Batman Returns, this was a blow we can't get past.