Funny / Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Moments subpages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned!

While the film has been marketed as horror-oriented by its cast and crew, there are still quite a few moments to chuckle at when The Multiverse delves into madness.

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• When Strange wakes from his nightmare, we see he has an open laptop laying next to him on the bed. Guess he really does miss Christine.
• When you know who is the real antagonist, the title suddenly become funny. "Multiverse of Madness" can be written like this "MOM".
• Strange meets Dr. West at Christine's wedding, who complains that after being dusted for five years he came back to find that he had lost his two cats... and his brother.
• When Christine is asking for wine at the bar, Strange uses his powers to turn a glass of water in front of her into it.
• When he starts to notice Gargantos's rampage, Strange takes a moment to finish off his martini before flying off to check it out.
• After Gargantos knocks Strange out and Wong steps in to protect America, the Cloak of Levitation attempts to get Strange back into the fight by slapping him awake.
• A moment that's also a credit to the animators: when Strange pulls the bus apart to save America, Gargantos visibly recoils and looks at it clearly thinking "what the fuck?"
• Gargantos hurls the bus at Strange who creates a mystic buzzsaw to cut it in half, the two parts passing harmlessly to either side of him and America... before slamming loudly into the buildings and vehicles behind them. The action pauses for a moment so Strange can sheepishly check on the damage he just caused.
• How do Strange and Wong defeat Gargantos, an interdimensional squid monster with one giant, obvious eyeball? How do you think? And when Strange pulls its eye out, it comes out with an audible POP.
• Christine mentioned to Strange that her husband is a fan and that he wanted to meet him. Lo and behold, as everyone in the wedding is watching the fight between the doctor and Gargantos, he is very enthusiastic about the ordeal.
• After saving America, she tries to run away but Strange grabs her, he then lets her go, and she books it, while at the same time Strange notices he no longer has his sling-ring.
  Strange: [mildly petulant] She took my slingy.
  Wong: [impressed] She took your slingy.
  • When they find her again less than a minute later, Wong shows his sling ring to show that she didn't take into account that they both had rings.
• Seeing a dead body of his alternate self, what's Strange's biggest concern? The idea there's a universe where he thinks wearing a ponytail is a good look.
• When Strange buries his alternate self's body on a rooftop, Wong comments that that probably violates an ordinance. Strange responds that he's buried worse.
• America sits down with Strange and Wong to explain about the multiverse and how dreams are actually visions of what variants are doing in their own universes. This is how Wong learns that there's a variant of himself that's perpetually running away from a clown while naked.
  • During this conversation, America gets sidetracked by the fact that a hero called Spider-Man exists in this universe, asking if he shoots webs out of his butt. Strange and Wong admit they're not actually sure if he does that. Even better, there's probably an alternative universe where Spider-Man actually looks like Man-Spider.
    • America even asks if he looks like a spider, to which they say he looks like a man or so they think since apparently no one knows his secret identity...
    • Even if it is justified, it can feel odd to see someone who doesn't know Spider-man's existance.
  • Wong reveals he knows the Book of Vishanti is real, because apparently the position of Sorcerer Supreme comes with a manual. Strange is quite irritated.
  • America is not a fan of monolingual Strange.
    America: (in Spanish) Frankly, of the two Doctor Stranges that I've met, you are not my favorite.
    Strange: Which means?
    America: (in Spanish) This guy doesn't speak Spanish?
    Wong: (in Spanish) I'm not sure he even enjoys speaking English.
  • In the middle of a tangent about attending Christine's wedding, a bystander asks Strange for a picture, which he shuts down.
    Strange: Look, I left a very nice wedding to save a smartass kid from getting eaten by an octopus.
    Wong: Whose wedding?
    Strange: Now tell me- Christine's.
    Wong: You went?
    America: Holy shit, you married Christine?
    Bystander: [holding up her phone] Do you mind?
    Strange: [to Bystander] Yes I do. [to America] No I didn't. [to Wong] Yes.
• When attempting to recruit Wanda to help defend America, Strange invokes the fact that she's an Avenger, to which she replies that he could also ask the other members of the team. Strange dismissively replies that he doesn't think an archer with a mohawk or various bug-themed superheroes would do very much against multiversal demons.
  • Strange then offers to put Wanda back on the Avengers "lunchbox" if she helps him. When she reveals her true colors and justifies killing America for "the greater good", Strange replies (In a completely serious tone), "Well then, you could kiss the lunchbox goodbye 'cause that's the kind of justification our enemies use."
• Wanda accidentally outs herself as The Woman Behind the Monsters by offering America a place of protection by name, even though Strange never said her name. She trails off only a few seconds later when she catches the look on Strange's face, at which you can see her realizing her mistake before commenting on it in deadpan.
  Wanda: You never told me her name, did you?
  Strange: No. No, I didn't.
  • The best part? Wanda can read minds, which means that she's not even going to bother with an excuse.
• America, in full Deadpan Snarker mode, chides Strange for giving her exact location to the very person (Wanda) that is chasing her. Strange can't even refute how much he screwed it.
• Rintrah, a giant green-furred minotaur, is one of the students at Kamar-Taj. No one finds this unusual. Granted, considering there's a talking raccoon, a talking tree, a talking duck, a rock alien, a giant bug in a mech suit and a whole bunch of Norse Gods living in Norway, and the Sorcerers fought alongside these guys, a minotaur isn't the weirdest thing in this universe, especially if we consider that, in the MCU timeline, this movie happens after Arishem show up in Earth's orbit. No wonder people didn't even blink at Rintrah's presence.
• Wong repeatedly chides Strange for not bowing to him for being the Sorcerer Supreme. When the sorcerers from Hong Kong and London proceed to bow when they meet, Wong gives Strange a very pointed look and asks him if he sees what they are doing, stating it is tradition. Strange's response is a very low, very annoyed statement that he is aware of the custom.
  • Becomes a Brick Joke later on, as at the end of the film, before returning to the New York Sanctum, Strange finally bows to Wong, who just gives an approving look.
• When Wanda arrives at Kamar-Taj, Wong tells Strange to negotiate with her. It comes across as "I don't want to do this, you do it."
  Wong: Choose your words wisely. The fate of the multiverse may depend on it.
  Strange: Got it. No pressure, then.
  • And then, when negotiations fail, Strange returns to Wong with one line:
    Strange: Nailed it.
• Strange's argument to talk Wanda down... doesn't work.
  Strange: Your children aren't real. You created them with magic.
  Wanda: [eyes wide with faux-innocence] That's what every mother does.
• While Wanda trying to mentally influence the sorcerers at Kamar-Taj to weaken the shield is pretty frightening, Benedict Wong's very hammy "SORCERERS! FORTIFY YOUR MIND!" while pointing to his head in a way that resembles the infamous "Think, Mark, think!" is worth a little chuckle.
  • Later on during the fight at Kamar-Taj, Stephen summons serpents to attack Wanda - and seems to be making a very serious hissing face while doing so. It's easy to miss on the first watch, but once you notice, it becomes oddly funny just in how unexpected it is.
• During the cycling through various universes, one is animated and the other seemingly made out of paint. America confirms to Strange that yes, the latter one is that way, and very hard to get food in.
• The scene in question is both creepy and somber, but there's something hilarious about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit appearing in an MCU movie, cameo or otherwise.
• As Strange and Chavez land on a rooftop in Earth-838 after cycling through countless universes, Chavez expresses surprise that Strange hasn't puked, to which he retorts that he's seen weirder stuff. Just as he's about to discuss the Earth they landed in, he vomits down a chimney.
  • After he recovers, Strange tries to explain what he and America should do next. Only to be interrupted by the Cloak of Levitation trying to wipe his mouth.
• On Earth-838, red road traffic lights mean "go" and the green ones mean "stop". It takes some time to Strange to adapt to such a silly reversal from his native universe.
• America Chavez grabs a Pizza Poppa and claims that "food is free in most universes"... except it's not free here, as the vendor angrily reminds her. And the vendor is played by none other than Bruce Campbell.
  • America being Instantly Proven Wrong raises the question of whether food is actually free in most universes, or if America has just been assuming that it is and this is just the first time she's gotten caught for it. Given that Strange later says her power takes her to whatever universe she needs... maybe a little of both?
  • In a bit of Self-Referential Humor from Sam Raimi and Actor Allusion recalling Evil Dead 2, Strange gets rid of this annoyance by cursing the vendor's mustard bottle to float in the air and spray him, then by cursing the man's own hand to punch his own face repeatedly, allegedly for three weeks.
  • This also isn't the first time in a Sam Raimi film where a hero has a misunderstanding with someone involving pizza, with Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man being mistaken for a pizza thief while using his abilities to deliver faster.
  • The second stinger shows Strange's curse on the Pizza Poppa vendor finally wearing off, and in a Leaning on the Fourth Wall moment, he faces the camera and joyfully says, "It's over!" It's somewhat reminiscent of Captain America's PSA at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, in the sense of the "I waited 'til the credits ended and all I get is this?!" kind of reaction expected from some audiences. Or even...
    Chikka chikka!
  • In an alternate version of the post-credits scene, Pizza Poppa instead angrily rises, clenches a fist and declares that Doctor Strange has not seen the last... of the Pizza Poppa!
• When Strange and America find 838-Mordo.
  Strange: He's actually the first guy who let me into Kamar-taj.
  America: Oh, great!
  Strange: And then he snapped and dedicated his life to trying to kill me.
  America: Oh... great.
  • There's also the implication that the big, dramatic post-credits scene at the end of the first Doctor Strange was resolved entirely off-screen, or that it's an ongoing thing with Mordo trying to periodically kill Strange comic book-style.
• When Mordo gives Chavez and Strange tea, keep in mind he did this in order to incapacitate the pair. It doubles as a hidden pun to the Ancient One responding to "What's in this tea?" with "Just tea, and a bit of honey." Definitely wasn't honey in the tea this time.
• Mordo dramatically introduces Strange to the Illuminati, but Strange gets sidetracked by the fact that Black Bolt's name is "Blackagar Boltagon" (he also makes fun of Bolt's tuning fork, which actually seems to piss Bolt off a bit) and that Mordo's first name is "Karl" — implying that despite training together, Strange never learned Mordo's first name. He also asks if "The Fantastic Four" "charted in the 60s". Throughout all of this, the Illuminati are completely stone-faced… except for Mr. Fantastic, who is visibly grinning and stifling laughs at Strange's one-liners.
  • Black Bolt non-verbally tells Strange to be silent, which is followed by this:
    Captain Carter: Be grateful Black Bolt doesn’t engage you in conversation.
    Dr. Strange: Why? Does he have bad breath?
  • Strange’s absolute refusal to take the Illuminati seriously.
    Mordo: …The smartest man alive, Reed Richards, of the Fantastic Four.
    Reed Richards: Hello, Stephen.
    Dr. Strange: Fantastic Four? (smirking) Didn’t you guys chart in the '60s?
    (Reed smiles)
    Captain Marvel: I’m sorry, is this a joke to you?
    Dr. Strange: Well, there’s a guy over there with a fork on his head so, yeah. Little bit.
  • Also, this bit:
    Mordo: …Blackagar Boltagon. Keeper of the Terrigen Mists, the Inhuman king.
    Dr. Strange: Blackagar Boltagard, huh? Hidigy hidithere.
    [Black Bolt glares]
  • When Wanda breaks into the facility, Strange keeps up with the snark.
    Reed Richards: The building’s been breached.
    Dr. Strange: No shit, genius.
  • When Strange escapes Mordo in their meeting room:
    Mordo: [yelling after Strange] I think I'm beginning to understand why your Mordo DIDN'T LIKE YOU VERY MUCH!
• The entire massacre of the Illuminati in general is somewhat darkly comedic, recalling what happened in works like Deadpool 2 and The Suicide Squad to the similarly hyped-up, briefly onscreen and brutally wiped out X-Force and Squad Team A, respectively.
  • In a moment of pure Black Comedy — this is a Sam Raimi movie — the fact that Captain Carter does a dramatic Call-Back to Captain America's "I can do this all day"... right before being immediately bisected by her own shield.
  • Or the fact that Mr. Fantastic gets turned into what looks like blue string cheese.
  • Compared to the way previous MCU films treat their big surprise cameos (including the ones right before this one) with reverence and awe and such, having big names as John Krasinski's Mr. Fantastic and Sir Patrick Stewart's Xavier showing up, and thus signifying that the Fantastic Four and X-Men are finally out there somewhere in the MCU, only to be immediately and brutally killed off reads as the film going "Screw you, you big fuckin' nerds!" Classic Sam.
    • Of course, they're variants and the real ones they'll use for the movies have yet to make an official appearance, but this can actually make it even funnier, because Sam is basically saying they can kill the shit out of all the variants they please as long as they leave the "real" ones alone!
  • It's the most pitch-black of Black Comedy, but the fact that the probable reason the whole fight goes so disastrously is because Reed unthinkingly blabs about what poor Black Bolt's powers are to Wanda (thus giving her the idea to seal his mouth shut right as he was probably about to One-Hit Kill her with a Super-Scream) can induce a dark chuckle. Reed being a bit of an Absent-Minded Professor like that at times is true to the comics, but it usually doesn't end in everyone dying!
    • Even more bleakly comedic is Wanda's facial expression right after Reed tells her Black Bolt's power. You can see her eyebrows move in a way that invokes a "huh" reaction. It's bleakly hilarious how Wanda clearly took away his mouth, but still has time to lightly fake a confused reaction.
  • The world's smartest man then decides to take on Wanda not with gadgets (such as the portal device he arrives at the Illuminati building with), brilliant schemes or combat skills...but by just trying to grab her. This works exactly as well as you would think.
  • The sheer irony of Black Bolt's death (he usually refrains from using his powers to avoid killing someone, but the one time he can't kill someone with his powers, it kills him) is so bleakly funny while also being horrifying that it could very well be Sam Raimi's Signature Style of horror comedy summed up in a single moment.
  • Xavier being killed off can be oddly humorous as he was already killed off in X-Men: The Last Stand by the Dark Phoenix under similar circumstances to Scarlet Witch (who has similar colossal powers). This also means Patrick Stewart agreed to a cameo where his character is killed off in the same act.
• When America and Christine are running from Wanda, they stop when they hear a bizarre screeching noise ahead, and spot a shadow at the end of the hallway, slowly coming closer towards them... and it's just Stephen running to find them. The screeching noise was the sound of his shoes squeaking each time he skids and changes direction.
• As Wong climbs back up to the summit of Mount Wundagore, he enters the fray by throwing his climbing hook into the head of one of Wanda's monster servants, roaring defiantly for the remaining ones to show him what they've got... then he remembers that he's still hanging onto the side of the mountain, meaning the monsters can just throw rocks at him from above. Good thing Strange shows up before that can happen!
• Wong's hilarious reaction to seeing the Big Damn Heroes moment of the animated corpse of Defender Strange being controlled by Sacred Timeline Strange to battle Scarlet Witch. Strange looks back, likely expecting another admonishment about his use of forbidden powers, but instead...
  Wong: I don't even want to know!
  • Prior to that, Strange boasts to Wanda in his Zombie Strange form that "This time, it's gonna take more than killing me to kill me!" However, he also says the line aloud in the Sinister Sanctorum, in front of 838-Christine, whose expression basically screams "Really? That's the line you went with?" In fact, Strange himself and Wanda take a pause because of how terrible the line was.
  • When the damned start hounding Wanda, this powerful and unfettered sorceress suddenly turns into a frightened cheerleader in a B-grade slasher flick as the spectres playfully taunt her with their high-pitched snarling.
  • When Strange frees America, she is visibly shocked at first. Strange had to quickly explain to her that “It’s me in other me’s body.” They way Strange explains it while rolling his eyes in the back of his head makes this moment darkly funny. It’s also helped by his raspy voice.
  • Just ... the absolute multitude of intense faces that Stephen makes while controlling Zombie Strange. Benedict Cumberbatch went all out and it is alternately awesome, horrifying, and hilarious.
• America gets control of her powers in time to punch Wanda in the face, letting out a satisfied "Uh-huh!" Wanda grins and responds with a smug "Mmm-mmm!", and is just about to retaliate before Chavez sucker punches her in the face again.
  • The fact that America had the usual last-second power-up to fight Wanda... a power-up that ultimately did nothing to Wanda beyond annoying her for a half minute at best.
• When Wanda finally reaches a universe where Tommy and Billy are alive, they're so terrified of her that they start throwing toy cars at her, making the fearsome and all-powerful Scarlet Witch snap "STOP IT!" like any parent at the end of their rope. The overall scene is anything but funny, but Wanda suddenly losing her cool after staying calm for most of the movie breaks the tension stupendously for a moment. The kids trying to keep her away by throwing their toys at her also skirts the line of hilarious and heartbreaking. The funny part is that it wasn't even scripted, the actors playing the kids hurt Elizabeth Olsen with one of the toys and both Lizzie's scream and the kids' reaction was genuine.^note She apologies to the kids for snapping at them.
• At the end of the movie, America has become an apprentice at Kamar-taj, but we see her complaining about how difficult it is to use a Sling Ring when she can literally open an interdimensional portal without one.
  • Strange mentions to Wong that America needs to put her feelings aside to properly learn how to use magic. Wong replies that she reminds him of another student who had that exact same problem (Strange himself).
• At the end of the film, Strange's third eye opens in a painful moment that seems to end the film on an "Or Is It?" ending. Cut to The Stinger and it hilariously reveals that he figured the whole thing out offscreen. He only keeps it closed when in everyday clothes, and he casually opens it in front of an unfazed Clea.

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