Movies with Multiverses
Everything Everywhere All at Once the True Multiverse of Madness
EEAAO brings wonder and excitement to the idea of a multiverse, whereas MoM left us wanting more.
This article contains spoilers. Please read at your own risk.
This year, spring brought a showering of movies met with high expectations. Two movies in particular both had a curious theme of navigating multiverses, which were A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once and Marvel Studio’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. A24 often delivers (especially to its devoted fanbase). But the March release of the highly-anticipated Everything Everywhere All at Once crushed the box office and remains A24’s highest grossing movie to date. The way the characters in each respective movie moved through the different universes were technically different; however, the execution in EEAAO was much more in-depth and fun without taking away from the main plot.
There are plentiful articles gushing over its brilliance. Most repeated is the beauty and freedom of the movie’s nihilism. Jobu Tobacky, the main antagonist in the film, believes that because nothing matters all worlds should end via existential bagel (and with the world’s ending, Tobacky’s inner turmoil ends as well.) However, it is through the idea that nothing matters wherein we have the freedom to place personal meaning in our lives.
In addition to the spectacular acting of Michelle Yeoh (Evelyn), Ke Huy Quan (Waymond), and Stephanie Hsu (Joy/Jobu Tobacky) and exploration of family dynamics and relationships, an essential part of EEAAO was the mechanic of “verse-jumping,” which allows a user the ability to “jump” to another multiverse version of themselves.
The writers and directors of EEAAO, Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (together known as Daniels) made a simple, yet clever system in order for the user to verse-jump. First, there is a small “sacrifice,” and this ranges from proclamations to actions. After the sacrifice is made, then the user is directed to the universe wherein they have the skill needed in the moment, such as fighting expertise. The beauty in this system is the anticipation before the jump and the excitement of meeting a new version of Evelyn, or any of the other characters. Within this system, there is also a catch: the user can’t linger in the other universe for fear of splitting their consciousness across all universes.
In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with Benedict Cumberbatch (Stephen Strange/Dr. Strange), Xochitl Gomez (America Chavez), and Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff) multiverse travel is very much physical, using America Chavez as the conduit between universes. Both she and Doctor Strange, transported through different universes to stop Scarlet Witch’s plot to rid a universe of its resident Wanda Maximoff and take her place in order to mother her children, Billy and Tommy.
Because Multiverse of Madness was very “in-person”, there was so much potential to see and pass through a multitude of universes. How many versions of Dr. Strange could we have seen? There is even confusion as to the “616” universe designation within the movie, as the main titles in Marvel comics are designated 616 (and the MCU was previously designated Earth-199999.) In the first universal “jump” America and Dr. Strange take together, they do pass through a myriad of universes. However, they only interact and move through three universes total, whereas there are at least eight explored in EEAAO. This was also the perfect opportunity to showcase more of the Marvel universes, and it feels it was wasted.
Unrelated to multiverse travels (and for fear of sounding like a “gatekeeping bro”), the casting (and costume design) of America Chavez could’ve been much more accurate if Disney were only brave enough.
In the war of the multiverses, there is a clear winner. A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once manages to bring delight and tears with its multiversal travel system woven into a sci-fi family drama. Marvel Studio’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had access to a Marvel-sized budget and plenty of content to pull from, but fell short with aweing its audience.
Hopefully, it fared better in another universe.
Recently:
published in Marías at Sampaguitas’ issue no. 4, CAMP: glitter in our eyes
find my essay, “SOPHIE: Capturing the Oil of Every Nonbinary & Trans folks/x’ Un-Insides” (with accompanying art I drew!)
my co-written comic (with my partner!), “And the winner is…”
co-written essay (with my co-editors, Maria and Dina!), “Interview with Trinidad Escobar, Comic Artist”
Currently, I’m:
listening to the audiobook of Dear Senthuran purchased from Libro.fm (a great alternative to Audible) where every purchase made, I support woman and Asian owned Fire Femme Books
sight-reading You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty (my hot girl summer is an Akwaeke Emezi summer!)
enjoying No Pressure’s self-titled full-length (the lead singer, Parker Cannon, is a part of my favorite band of all time, The Story So Far!)
watching SPY x FAMILY, Love After World Domination, among other anime this season