'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'

[Captain Comics]

Do we not have a thread for this film? I couldn't find one. My wife and I watched it on Disney+ last night (we're still not going to theaters), and here are some of my reactions.

First, as The Baron is wont to do, a Spoiler Space and Random Picture.

1. It was quite a show. I mean that in the most positive sense. It was a spectacle.
2. I was particularly impressed with the Souls of the Damned becoming a Kali-like, multiple-armed thing, then forming a sort of cloak. Whoa.
3. Also, Zombie Strange.Ha!
4. Plus, "I've buried worse." Double ha!
5. Loved that this was basically a horror movie.
6. I also loved the great lines that wouldn't work if you didn't have great actors to deliver them and do reaction shots. "I need you to protect my body." "From whom?" "The Souls of the Damned." That exchange wouldn't have worked without Benedict Cumberbatch and especially Rachel McAdams.
7. I was also impressed with the trip Strange and Chavez took through the multiverse. I'm told it was 40 seconds, and 20 universes. I believe it. Tremendous imagination and craft.
8. Yes, I caught the brief images of The Living Tribunal. I missed the Hydra dirigible, but I have no doubt it was there. There were some other suggestions of MCU callbacks, but my pre-frontal lobe was too overwhelmed to think about them long enough to remember them.
9. Loved seeing Shuma-Gorath. The credits call him "Gigantos," but it certainly was Shuma-Gorath, as depicted in Doctor Strange comics. I assume they didn't call him Shuma-Gorath because they'd have to pay the H.P. Lovecraft estate. And who knows? Maybe they tried, and the estate said "No."
10. The WandaVision theme plays when Wanda makes her first appearance.
11. I loved the attention to detail, such as the fingertips of Darkhold users turning black. This was the case with Wanda, Sinister Strange and Agatha Harkness. I didn't see the third season of Runaways, but I wouldn't be surprised to if those black fingers showed up on Nico Minaru.
12. Chaos magic is consistently red, white magic is gold and black magic is purple.
13. Speaking of which, there was a big flash of red magic when the shrine on Wundagore was collapsing. I assume that's Wanda teleporting out. They're not going to kill her off, I don't think. And what's a collapsing mountain to the Scarlet Witch? An annoyance.
14. Since Strange doesn't have the Time Stone any more, why is he still wearing the Eye of Agamotto casing? Does it serve some other purpose now? Holding up his cloak? He seems to use it for ... something when he's opening the vault.
15. Speaking of Cloak, it has the best characterization of any inanimate object I've ever seen! Love Cloak, and would like to have a beer with him.
16. I love that Cloak has been repaired, but with different colors. And that the damage was off-center, so the repair job doesn't look like a Superman-style cape logo. It's just ... eccentric, like all things Strange.
17. When I saw the line, "You break the rules and you're a hero. I break them and I'm the villain." in the trailers, I thought it a bit hokey. After all, Strange broke the rules to stop Thanos, and spent five years as dust. That is heroic. Wanda broke the rules for her own selfish needs, and hurt a lot of people. There's a difference. But in the movie Wanda was in full Darkhold mode when she said that, which wasn't apparent in the trailer, and was incapable of seeing beyond her own selfish needs. That sold the line.
18. Doctor Strange isn't dumb. When we see the reveal that the area around Wanda's cabin had been blasted to some kind of literal hell by her use of the Darkhold, it reminded me that earlier Strange had smelled the apple tree branch and said, "It smells real." Wanda lies and says "Everything here is real." But Strange doesn't say anything. I think at that point he already knew that Wanda had gone over to the Dark Side of the Force.
19. But one thing the two movies both establish, and don't ignore, is that Strange does break the rules. And with that third eye, there will apparently be consequences.Yay!
20. The doctor who chastises Strange at the wedding is Nicodemus West, the same doctor who declared his patient dead in the first movie, only for Strange to swoop in and revive him. He is also the doctor who failed to repair Strange's hands. I don't feel sorry for him, because he's incompetent. Also, boo-hoo, his brother died while he was dust. So what? He would have died anyway. And if it wasn't for Strange, all those dusted people would have stayed dusted, including YOU, nincompoop. Strange does break the rules, and sometimes he's reckless, but what he did in the Thanos War was nothing short of saving the universe.
21. Interesting that in NO universe does Strange end up with Christine. Except there's a hint that Christine-838 might break that multiversal constant. Again, breaking the rules. What would happen? Oh, yeah, incursion.
22. Clea! Boy, Charlize Theron gets around these days! I hope Clea's connection to Umar and Dormammu is intact, to complicate matters. It will be fun to see Theron and Cumberbatch, two excellent actors, do scenes together. Looking forward to Doctor Strange 3!
23. And she says Strange caused an incursion. When? Because he dreamwalked? So did Wanda, and she did it first. Because he went to Earth-838? Not voluntarily. I'm uncertain what his crime is here.
24. America Chavez is a multiversal unicorn. Is that from the comics? Interesting.
25. I liked the young actress who played Chavez. Marvel really casts so well. I guess if you're winning championships, all the best players want to be on your team, and you get a lot to choose from.
26. The MCU has introduced Tommy and Billy Maximoff, Cassie Lang, Kamala Khan, America Chavez, Nathaniel Richards (as Kang), Kate Bishop and Elijah Bradley. And I'll bet a dollar that White Vision is making a family somewhere, to give us Viv Vision. (Maybe in the upcoming Wonder Man?) Secret Invasion will probably give us Hulkling. How can they NOT do Young Avengers? 
27. Ditto Secret Wars. All these incursions are just going to get worse. And the Russo brothers said that's the only movie they'd come back to the MCU for.
28. I wondered if Chthon would get name-dropped once Wundagore was introduced. Sure enough, he is said to have inscribed the Darkhold on the rock of Wundagore Mountain. It immediately made me think of this oft-reprinted panel:
29. Christine-838 calls the place Strange finds the Book of Vishanti the "Gap" or somesuch. Her description makes it sound like the Nexus of All Realities from Man-Thing, or the Crossroads from Incredible Hulk.
30. Rintrah! Any movie with a green minotaur is worth my money.
31. Strange's dead sister is from the comics. He also has a brother who's still alive.
32. The Brazier of Bom'Galiath is from the comics, AND from the first Strange movie, where Strange picks it up and aims it at Kaecilius, who's alarmed until he realizes, "You don't know how to use that, do you?" But Christine-838 did!
33. Christine-838 dutifully labeled the MCU Earth-616. Only it isn't. Iman Vellani, who plays Ms. Marvel, is such a Marvel nerd that she dutifully pointed out that in the comics, the MCU has been labeled Earth-199999. Gotta love that she knew that.
34. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was on the TV in the Maximoff home on Earth-838. That was Walt Disney's first creation, before Mickey Mouse.
35. Pizza Poppa was played by Bruce Campbell, who does a cameo in most Sam Raimi movies. But y'all knew that.
36. OK, let's get to the Illuminati. Anybody know why they had a huge castle in the middle of Central Park? I don't remember that from any iteration of the comics, but I might have forgotten.
37. Also, did anyone recognize any of the statues in the Illuminati lobby? There was a Silver Surfer-looking character, in a circle that looks like it's supposed to represent water with what looks like a sword. Probably not him. Or a variant? There are two bowed angels with what look like metal wings, but since there are two, it's probably not Archangel. But maybe? The one I really had high hopes for was the huge statue of a woman in armor, but I never got a good enough look at it to figure out if it was someone I'd seen before. Carol Danvers, maybe? My wife was tired of me pausing and replaying at that point, so I didn't go back and look. Anybody?
38. It would be ironic if it was Carol Danvers, since Wanda used it to kill Captain Marvel.
39. Reed Richards arrives by Dr. Doom's time machine (Raimi has confirmed this). He mentions his wife and children, plural, so Sue, Valeria and Franklin presumably exist on Earth-838.
40. Yes, Reed was played by John Krasinski, a fan favorite for the role (along with his wife, Emily Blunt, as Sue). That doesn't mean that he will play Reed when the FF is introduced to Earth-616. But it could.
41. When Dr. Strange hears the name "Fantastic Four," he says "Didn't you chart in the '60s?" That's a reference to The Beatles, of course, often called the Fab Four in the '60s. I am amazed at how many entertainment-site columnists did not catch that reference. These kids today (tm).
42. Dr. Strange thinks "Blackagar Boltagon" as Black Bolt's real name is funny, and speaks double-speak gibberish at him. You know, I had the same reaction back in the day. Of course, I was 12.
43. Black Bolt is played by Anson Mount, like in Marvel's TV show The Inhumans, even though he's got a better gig these days (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds). This time he brought a comics-accurate suit.
44. Black Bolt's death was genuinely horrific.
45. I thought it was a neat twist that instead of Carol Danvers becoming Captain Marvel on Earth-838, it was her best friend, Maria Rambeau. Also, probably cheaper.
46. Just like in Captain Marvel, Maria is played by Lashana Lynch, even though she also has a better gig these days (Obi-Wan Kenobi). Just like Danvers being the only Avenger to give Thanos a hard time solo, Rambeau is the only Illuminati to give Wanda a hard time solo.
47. Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter was awesome, and if she doesn't continue in the MCU in some fashion, it will be a crime against entertainment. She got to use Cap's best line ("I can do this all day") and was the only Illuminati to lay a glove on Wanda.
48. Captain Carter had a jet pack, which I assume is a callback to the What If? episode where Howard Stark's 1940s Iron Man technology was in use.
49. Patrick Stewart had the biggest role of all the Illuminati. I guess he's the biggest star. I honestly didn't expect much more than a cameo, so I was surprised.
50. The theme to the 1992 X-Men cartoon played when Xavier was introduced. Also, he was using the hoverchair used in that cartoon, and also in the comics, where it was a gift from the Shi'Ar. As everyone here doubtless knows, that cartoon is being revived at Disney+ as X-Men '92.
51. The bombed-out ruin Xavier tries to rescue Wanda from is lifted from Wanda's flashbacks in WandaVision. There's even the same TV she and Pietro used to watch American sitcoms, only here it's playing WandaVision episode 1.
52. The Xavier vs. Wanda scene felt like a callback to Xavier vs. Phoenix scene in X-Men: The Last Stand. He didn't win that one, either.
53. Xavier's death is pretty horrific, too.
54. It occurred to me in real time that the Illuminati could have beaten Wanda handily if they all attacked at once without warning (especially Black Bolt saying "Hello" from behind her). But no, they had to all stand together in heroic poses and ask her to surrender. That gave up the element of surprise and of a group attack, and Wanda was able to easily slaughter them one by one.
55. I thought Strange's psychological attack on Mordo was brilliant. Movie and TV writers do the "taunt your enemy until he makes a mistake" bit a lot, and most times it feels like something the bad guy would twig to instantly, roll his eyes and just kill the hero. But with the background these two characters had, Strange's guess that Mordo was a faux hero who was pleased by Strange's execution -- if not the guy who actually engineered it -- was terrific insight. And Cumberbatch's sneering delivery would make anybody see red. Maybe it was the acting more than the writing, but these two really pulled it off.
56. When Chiwetal Ejiofor first appeared, I turned to my wife and said, "Never trust a Mordo." I was actually right!
57. The Ultron-bots suggest this universe had an Iron Man, but he is evidently no longer around. They could have had an Iron Man who just never spoke or took off his helmet, but that would have been cheesy and I'm glad they didn't do that. Besides, he would have been superfluous in the battle scene, where Captain Marvel filled the "flying and shooting rays from hands" niche.

OK, that's all I can think of for now. What do y'all think?

[Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas]

Shuma-Gorath was named by Robert E. Howard, not Lovecraft.  Who knows whether there is even a clear holder of the rights these days.

[Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas]

Nice observations, Cap.

The movie was exciting, and yes, being a full horror entry was nice as well.  Bruce Campbell's scenes were very well done too, particularly the second.

I wonder what the third eye is supposed to mean exactly.  Hopefully we will see Umar and Dormammu in Doctor Strange 3.  Looking forward to it.

[Captain Comics]

I have no idea what the third eye can do, or if it's a Darkhold curse, or what. I suspect it's mostly bad news, given that Sinister Strange* said "The Darkhold exacts a heavy toll," and the line was repeated somewhere.

Also, I forgot to mention the fight between Stranges using musical notes. At least two actual compositions were used. Sinister Strange was using Beethoven's Fifth, while Strange-616 was using something from Bach I reognized, but whose name I don't know.

* We usually have the Closed Captions on so we don't miss any key dialogue, and it labeled that guy "Sinister Strange." The dead Strange was labeled "Defender Strange."

[ClarkKent_DC]

Some thoughts:

• I enjoyed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I saw it in a theater, because for Marvel movies, I get the most out of the spectacle when I see it on the big screen.*
• Conversely, I am Facebook friends with comics scribe Steven Grant, and he trashed it unmercifully. That's what makes horse races, I guess. 
• It helped a bit that I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home (also in a theater). 
• I had not seen WandaVision beforehand, nor any of the Marvel TV shows as I don't have Disney+. Although it is nice that stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are well-integrated, I have to admit I don't like the notion that you have to watch other movies or shows to appreciate the one right in front of you; that's too much like homework.
• Since I had not seen WandaVision beforehand, an offhand line about The Vision's fate threw me.
• I liked the surprise of Professor X and Reed Richards (although I'm not sold on John Krasinski in the role), and Captain Carter and Captain Marvel.
• Clea? Really! I'm sold for the next one!

* Plus, by and large, I like Marvel movies over Brand Ecch. With Marvel movies, I'm always anticipating the next one and will catch it in theaters. For movies from The Other Guys, it's always *yawn" whenever I get around to it. Case in point: I completely missed the window to see The Suicide Squad in theaters OR on HBO Max; I finally saw it when HBO Max carried it again. Another case in point: Still haven't seen The Batman yet.

(However, I must admit, I did not see Eternals; I have little interest in the characters or the comic, so a movie version didn't draw me at all.)

[Captain Comics]

One other thing. At some point I turned to my wife and said, "When did Benedict Wong become an action movie star?" He wears it well!

[Richard Willis]

Captain Comics said:

It was quite a show. I mean that in the most positive sense. It was a spectacle.

I couldn’t agree more.

Also, Zombie Strange.Ha!

I’m glad it wasn’t the Marvel Zombies universe.

Loved that this was basically a horror movie.

Apparently, some parents regretted taking their little kids, expecting a superhero movie. Some nightmares were had. Previously seeing half of the heroes turn to dust was pretty horrific, though.

Heck, some things I watched gave me nightmares as a kid. I think it’s a rite of passage.

I was also impressed with the trip Strange and Chavez took through the multiverse. I'm told it was 40 seconds, and 20 universes. I believe it. Tremendous imagination and craft.

That was when I had to start staring at the screen. I literally couldn’t take my eyes off it.

I knew nothing about America Chavez before seeing this movie. I was enthralled by the character and impressed with Xochitl Gomez’ portrayal. Whatever they are paying the people casting their movies and TV shows they deserve more.

Yes, I caught the brief images of The Living Tribunal. I missed the Hydra dirigible, but I have no doubt it was there. There were some other suggestions of MCU callbacks, but my pre-frontal lobe was too overwhelmed to think about them long enough to remember them.

I saw some recognizable things, but probably missed a lot. I have several review articles that I haven’t read yet, then I’ll know just how much I missed.

The WandaVision theme plays when Wanda makes her first appearance.

I’m glad I had captioning running. It alerted me to musical choices, etc.

Speaking of which, there was a big flash of red magic when the shrine on Wundagore was collapsing. I assume that's Wanda teleporting out. They're not going to kill her off, I don't think. And what's a collapsing mountain to the Scarlet Witch? An annoyance.

I came to the same conclusion.

I love that Cloak has been repaired, but with different colors. And that the damage was off-center, so the repair job doesn't look like a Superman-style cape logo. It's just ... eccentric, like all things Strange.

Was Cloak established in this way in the comics? I haven’t read anything with Doctor Strange since forever.

And if it wasn't for Strange, all those dusted people would have stayed dusted, including YOU, nincompoop. Strange does break the rules, and sometimes he's reckless, but what he did in the Thanos War was nothing short of saving the universe.

As bad as it all was, it was established that it was literally the only way to save the universe.

Clea! Boy, Charlize Theron gets around these days! I hope Clea's connection to Umar and Dormammu is intact, to complicate matters. It will be fun to see Theron and Cumberbatch, two excellent actors, do scenes together. Looking forward to Doctor Strange 3!

Same here!

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was on the TV in the Maximoff home on Earth-838. That was Walt Disney's first creation, before Mickey Mouse.

I saw that, too.

Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter was awesome, and if she doesn't continue in the MCU in some fashion, it will be a crime against entertainment. She got to use Cap's best line ("I can do this all day") and was the only Illuminati to lay a glove on Wanda.

I’m for that!

We usually have the Closed Captions on so we don't miss any key dialogue, and it labeled that guy "Sinister Strange." The dead Strange was labeled "Defender Strange."

It also identified all of the music. I know a little Spanish, but I’m better at reading it than listening to it. The untranslated Spanish spoken by America was simple but seeing it on the screen helped me understand it.

One other thing. At some point I turned to my wife and said, "When did Benedict Wong become an action movie star?" He wears it well!

I also enjoyed the long-established character Wong played once again by Wong. 

 

[Captain Comics]

Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas said:

Shuma-Gorath was named by Robert E. Howard, not Lovecraft.

I did not know that. Moreover, I was assuming things I did not actually know, and wasn't aware that I was assuming those things — and you corrected me, Luis, so that I know better now. That is literally one of my most favorite things in the world, to be corrected when I am being arrogant and stupid. I hate it when other people are arrogant and stupid, so when I am, I want to be corrected. Thanks again.

ClarkKent_DC said:

I had not seen WandaVision beforehand, nor any of the Marvel TV shows as I don't have Disney+. Although it is nice that stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are well-integrated, I have to admit I don't like the notion that you have to watch other movies or shows to appreciate the one right in front of you; that's too much like homework.

I agree in principle, but outside of that, I have to say: There are a million TV shows and movies where nothing is integrated. This is the one thing in the world that is, and it's done well. If you don't like it, well, you don't. But I hope you can follow along anyhow, because I do think Marvel Studios does make an effort on that score.

But if not ... well, again, this is a singular thing that I honestly don't want to be watered down. This is for US, the fanboys, and we've waited long enough.

ClarkKent_DC said:

I liked the surprise of Professor X and Reed Richards (although I'm not sold on John Krasinski in the role), and Captain Carter and Captain Marvel.

I agree 100%. I don't think Krasinski worked very well, but did you know he was cast because of Internet fandom wanting him to be cast? And that he is NOT necessarily going to be Reed Richards when the FF are introduced to the MCU? Kevin Feige said he did this (and Krasinski did this) as a goof, to satisfy the online folks who had been wanting it.

That's pretty cool by my lights. It will be MORE cool if Krasinski is NOT Reed Richards when the FF happen. Because, as you said, it didn't really work.

And it's all OK in the broader MCU sense, because this was a parallel world. We had a different Captain America, a different Mordo, a different Captain Marvel, etc. Krasinski was probably an "alt" Reed Richards, and doesn't tie Marvel's hands for the 616 MCU.

ClarkKent_DC said:

Clea? Really! I'm sold for the next one!

Ohhhhhhh yeah.

ClarkKent_DC said:

By and large, I like Marvel movies over Brand Ecch. With Marvel movies, I'm always anticipating the next one and will catch it in theaters. For movies from The Other Guys, it's always *yawn" whenever I get around to it. Case in point: I completely missed the window to see The Suicide Squad in theaters OR on HBO Max; I finally saw it when HBO Max carried it again. Another case in point: Still haven't seen The Batman yet.

Same. And I always thought I was more interested in the Marvel movies because of the interconnectedness. But this conversation has changed my mind.

Now I think I like Marvel movies more than DC movies because Marvel movies care about the characters more. They give us what we want, instead of re-inventing Superman for what Zack Snyder wants or re-inventing Batman for what Christopher Nolan wants. 

Case in point: I've loved Doctor Strange since the mid-1960s, and Marvel gave me that exact character. DC does Batman movies, but it's a Batman I don't really know. It's a pretty good Batman, but it's not the New Look Batman, or the O'Neil/Adams Batman, or any other Batman I recognize from the comics.

Marvel gives me what I know and want and have "owned" since I was a boy. DC gives me movies starring names I know, but featuring characters that Hollywood has invented. It's like the Catwoman movie, where the screenwriters said, "Yeah, you know Catwoman as written by Bill Finger and John Broome and Ed Brubaker. But eff those guys. We can write a better Catwoman, and here it is. Because we're smarter than you. Enjoy!"

ClarkKent_DC said:

I did not see Eternals; I have little interest in the characters or the comic, so a movie version didn't draw me at all.)

I love talking about Eternals. Because there are movie critics and Big Name Directors who hate Marvel movies, and their critique is that they're all the same. But then when Marvel does a movie that is manifestly NOT the same ... they still hate it, and make the same complaints!

Tells you where their heads are.

As for my head, I found Eternals uneven. I wasn't thrilled. But since it was connected to a larger universe, I gave it MORE allowance than I would have otherwise. Maybe some of those story beats will pay off in a later movie. The movie I was watching didn't give me much.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Captain Comics said:

Now I think I like Marvel movies more than DC movies because Marvel movies care about the characters more. They give us what we want, instead of re-inventing Superman for what Zack Snyder wants or re-inventing Batman for what Christopher Nolan wants. 

Case in point: I've loved Doctor Strange since the mid-1960s, and Marvel gave me that exact character. DC does Batman movies, but it's a Batman I don't really know. It's a pretty good Batman, but it's not the New Look Batman, or the O'Neil/Adams Batman, or any other Batman I recognize from the comics.

Marvel gives me what I know and want and have "owned" since I was a boy. DC gives me movies starring names I know, but featuring characters that Hollywood has invented. It's like the Catwoman movie, where the screenwriters said, "Yeah, you know Catwoman as written by Bill Finger and John Broome and Ed Brubaker. But eff those guys. We can write a better Catwoman, and here it is. Because we're smarter than you. Enjoy!"

Yeah ... The Other Guys think they're making Art, and maybe they are and maybe they aren't. They also think that making crowd-pleasing movies is a bad thing, which it is not.

Good Lord, Catwoman certainly failed both on the score of making Art and on the score of making a crowd-pleasing movie. It certainly failed on the score of writing a better Catwoman than Bill Finger and John Broome and Ed Brubaker ... and denied us more of the Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman from Batman Returns, which is what the audience really wanted! 

Captain Comics said:

ClarkKent_DC said:

I liked the surprise of Professor X and Reed Richards (although I'm not sold on John Krasinski in the role), and Captain Carter and Captain Marvel.

I agree 100%. I don't think Krasinski worked very well, but did you know he was cast because of Internet fandom wanting him to be cast? And that he is NOT necessarily going to be Reed Richards when the FF are introduced to the MCU? Kevin Feige said he did this (and Krasinski did this) as a goof, to satisfy the online folks who had been wanting it.

That's pretty cool by my lights. 

Case in point. Satisfying the audience is not a bad thing. 

[Richard Willis]

Captain Comics said:

Now I think I like Marvel movies more than DC movies because Marvel movies care about the characters more. They give us what we want, instead of re-inventing Superman for what Zack Snyder wants or re-inventing Batman for what Christopher Nolan wants.

This reminds me of when Marvel gave J. Michael Straczynski an almost-free hand in writing Spider-Man, which resulted in the worst stories ever told by Marvel. Hiring a superstar creator is always a big deal and a sales coup. IMO, going in they need a tight agreement that characters will not be changed unrecognizably. Somebody needs to "sit on them" and know the difference between very good writing and the opposite.

In the case of DC, they need a publisher like Jenette Kahn. Someone smart, invested in the characters and who needs to be at the table for movie decisions.

[Captain Comics]

Richard Willis said:

I’m glad it wasn’t the Marvel Zombies universe.

Me too. I found those series really depressing.

Some things I watched gave me nightmares as a kid. I think it’s a rite of passage.

Former comic book writer Gerard Jones wrote a book, Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence, which basically argues that children should be exposed to scary things (in a safe environment, like a movie theater) so they can learn to process them.

Of course, at this point I don't think anyone's going to listen to Gerard Jones in regard to the welfare of children.

I knew nothing about America Chavez before seeing this movie. I was enthralled by the character and impressed with Xochitl Gomez’ portrayal. Whatever they are paying the people casting their movies and TV shows they deserve more.

I wrote somewhere, maybe on the site somewhere, that Marvel does have an outstanding track record on casting. And one reason, I think, is because everybody wants to work for them, so they get their pick.

Was Cloak established in this way in the comics? I haven’t read anything with Doctor Strange since forever.

I don't think so. It has operated separately from Strange, but on his mental commands. I don't think it was ever portrayed as sentient -- unless that's a recent innovation. I have read some Strange since I stopped buying comprehensively in 2010, but not all of it.

I know a little Spanish, but I’m better at reading it than listening to it.

I find that true of all the languages I'm familiar with. I expect it's true of people who learn English as adults. Can you imagine learning English in England and then trying to understand someone from Maine or Texas? Better to read it.

[Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas]

One question: do we have any basis for the distinction between sorcery and witchcraft that led Stephen to seek Wanda?

IIRC the movie has Wong and Stephen noticing some runes that apparently indicate witchcraft at work.  I don't think we are supposed to pay too much attention to that, but I wonder.

[Captain Comics]

I don't recall a specific verbal reference to the difference between sorcery and witchcraft, but one could have flown by me in WandaVision. This I do know: Black magic is purple (Agatha, Sinister Strange). White magic is gold (Strange, Wong, Kamar Taj students). And Chaos magic is red (Wanda).

So maybe all witchcraft is Chaos magic?

Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas said:

One question: do we have any basis for the distinction between sorcery and witchcraft that led Stephen to seek Wanda?

IIRC the movie has Wong and Stephen noticing some runes that apparently indicate witchcraft at work.  I don't think we are supposed to pay too much attention to that, but I wonder.