Doctor Strange 2 Grossed More Than Any Pandemic Era Film, Except One
Doctor Strange 2 has been tearing up the box office numbers, but it still failed to top the list of the most successful pandemic era film released.
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As what should come as a shock to no one, Marvel is absolutely crushing it. So far, its latest superhero-based flick, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, aka Doctor Strange 2 has raked in a whopping $803.2 million globally. This places it in the coveted position of the number two top-grossing film in the post-pandemic world, just behind another Marvel masterpiece. As the character of Doctor Strange might be a little annoyed to find out, the universe hopping film is finding itself blocked by another multiverse-based production, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Absolutely crushing the competition, No Way Home has run circles around other highly anticipated features including the latest James Bond flick, No Time to Die, and Marvel’s DC rival, The Batman. Clocking in a total ticket sale count of $1.89 billion, it’s hard to say exactly who, if anyone, will be able to dethrone the web-slinger from the top of the chart.
As for director Sam Raimi’s fourth jump into the Marvel universe, Doctor Strange 2 centers around the titular Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he hops through realities in hopes of preventing various demons and monsters from collecting the magical Book of Vishanti. On his travels, he meets the young hero at the center of it all, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez). Unable to control her powers, Chavez gets in a bind after bind hopping through multiverses. The film also acts as a followup to Disney+’s massively successful series, WandaVision, seeing Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) as a centerpiece and major player in the new film. Subjects of grief, personal growth, acceptance, and moving forward even when you don’t want to were the focal point of the film. Doctor Strange 2 is an absolute must-see for anyone, but especially Marvel fans. Along with featuring some unexpected cameos which the franchise is known for (don’t worry, we won’t spoil any for you!), the film also stars Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Prior to the time-hopping exploration of Doctor Strange 2, No Way Home was the first Marvel film to deep dive and get its hands dirty in the multiverse. The film centers on Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland) who seeks out Dr. Strange’s help to make the world forget that he’s the web-slinging superhero. Problems arise when Peter tinkers with the spell too much and villains and heroes from other Spider-Man-based universes begin to bleed into his. Also starring Zendaya, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Marisa Tomei, Willem Dafoe, Jacob Batalon, Thomas Haden Church, Alfred Molina, and Jamie Foxx, the film’s combination of new and old characters made it an overnight hit. It also tangles with some of the same themes as Doctor Strange 2 which made it the most emotionally charged Tom Holland-led Spider-Man film yet.
While Doctor Strange 2 may have a while to go before it catches up with No Way Home, it isn’t totally out of the realm of possibilities. After all, the movie hasn’t been in theaters for a month, whereas No Way Home has already made its theatrical exit. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the MCU it’s to not count out anything too early.
