Pretty much since Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was first announced, the Sam Raimi-directed sequel to Scott Derrickson's 2016 Doctor Strange movie (watch that one HERE) has been drawing comparisons to Indiana Jones movies. Producer Kevin Feige said the movie would have "scary sequences" in it along the lines of '80s Spielberg productions like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Gremlins, and Poltergeist. During a recent interview with Vanity Fair, screenwriter Michael Waldron compared Doctor Strange to Indiana Jones. And now cast member Elizabeth Olsen has said the movie will be "scarier than Indiana Jones".
Waldron described Doctor Strange as "Indiana Jones in a cloak", saying
He’s a hero who can take a punch. That’s what made those Harrison Ford heroes so great. Those guys get their asses kicked. Look at Stephen Strange in the first movie. He’s really getting beat up but he’s very capable and everything. I can tell you that it’s a ride… very Sam Raimi. The film is incredibly visually thrilling. John Mathieson, our D.P., who shot Gladiator and Logan — I think the look of it is going to be unlike anything you’ve seen in the MCU before."
This led to Olsen being asked, on Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men podcast, if she would compare Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to an Indiana Jones movie. She replied,
I think it’s scarier than Indiana Jones. I think it definitely feels more Sam Raimi than that. So maybe that was the goal, but it definitely became something darker I think. … (It has) the horror genre feeling of constant fear and thrill and misleads and playing with camera, playing with how the perspective of the depth of field in order to make the audience feel more anxious… It’s more…I think it's more than like a glossy Indiana Jones movie. Which I love Indiana Jones, but I feel like it has a darker thing going on."
When the podcast's host pointed out that Temple of Doom has some dark, scary things in it (think mind control and heart ripping), Olsen agreed that Multiverse of Madness is like "(Temple of Doom's) scariest parts".
Sounds good to me. Olsen has previously described Multiverse of Madness as "a bonkers movie" that's "going for that horror show vibe".
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, returning Doctor Strange cast members Benedict Wong as Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, and Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Cumberbatch's Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame co-star Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, and new addition Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez, a.k.a. Miss America.
Boasting a score composed by Danny Elfman, the film is scheduled to reach theatres on March 25, 2022.