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      ‘S.N.L.’ Imagines the Origins of Abortion Law

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      On an episode hosted by Benedict Cumberbatch, “Saturday Night Live” contemplated the possibility that the Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade.“Saturday Night Live” dug deep for its opening sketch this weekend, far into the text of a leaked draft opinion indicating that the Supreme Court has voted to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, at the section where the draft opinion’s author, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., cites legal theory from 13th century England.As an introductory voice-over described the scene, “We go now to that profound moment of moral clarity, almost a thousand years ago, which laid such a clear foundation for what our laws should be in 2022.”Within the stone walls of a medieval castle, wearing period costumes and wigs, the cast members James Austin Johnson and Andrew Dismukes were brainstorming with a third character, played by the show’s guest host, Benedict Cumberbatch.“While I was cleaning the hole on the side of the castle where we poop and then it falls through the sky into a moat of human feces, I started to think about abortion,” Cumberbatch said, adding, “Don’t you think we ought to make a law against it?”“Exactly. Something fair and reasonable like those laws. We should make a law that will stand the test of time, so that hundreds and hundreds of years from now, they’ll look back and say, no need to update this one at all — they nailed it back in 1235.”Dressed as a medieval woman, Cecily Strong interrupted the men’s discussion. “I was outside watching the sheriff throw left-handed children into the river and I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about a new law,” she said.Strong asked them, “I was just wondering since I’m almost at the childbearing age of 12, shouldn’t women have the right to choose, since having a baby means like a 50 percent chance of dying?”Cumberbatch answered, “Yes, but that’s why we’re also offering maternity leave. When you’re done with 20 years of continuous maternity, you can leave.”When the three men all voted in favor of their new law, a fourth man, played by Chris Redd, attempted to vote against it.“I’m just playing,” Redd said. “I know I can’t vote. But you know, Moors gonna be Moors.”Kate McKinnon entered the room wearing long gray hair and a pointed hat, and Cumberbatch recoiled: “An ogre!” he exclaimed.“No, no, just a woman in her 30s,” McKinnon replied. She explained that eating a weird mushroom had given her the power to see far into the future, when this oppressive law would be overturned and then that outcome would itself be undone.McKinnon tried to offer some words of encouragement. “No matter how many choices they take away from women, we’ve always got the choice to keep fighting,” she said.“That’s really inspiring,” Cumberbatch responded. “And after hearing your perspective, I suddenly realize — you’re a witch and we’re going to set you on fire.”Hidden Talent of the WeekOne potential upside of hosting “S.N.L.” is that you might get to show off a skill or talent the audience doesn’t know you have. In the case of Cumberbatch, the Oscar-nominated star of “The Power of the Dog” and the “Doctor Strange” films, he demonstrated that he’s a pretty decent singer when he assumes the guise of a prison inmate on a chain gang in 1950s Georgia.While fellow convicts played by Johnson, Redd and Kenan Thompson smash rocks and lament their long internments, Cumberbatch is the one enjoying cherry pie and boasting that he’s the prison snitch. (He also put his pipes to use in a later sketch playing half of a 1980s New Wave rock duo that finds itself playing a gig at Chuck E. Cheese.)Weekend Update Jokes of the WeekOver at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che continued to riff on the Supreme Court’s draft opinion and its potential impact on abortion access.Jost began:Well, guys, tomorrow is Mother’s Day. Whether you wanted to be one or not. In an unprecedented move that could cause lasting damage to the Supreme Court, a draft opinion was leaked which indicates that they intend to overturn Roe v. Wade. So the Court is usually careful, but they slipped up just this once and now they’ve got to live with it forever. Sounds really unfair.The opinion was written by Justice Samuel Alito, and he bases his arguments on laws from the 1600s. So it’s an outdated opinion from an angry 70-year-old? This shouldn’t be a Supreme Court decision; it should just be a Facebook post. The opinion also seems like it was written in a weird conservative bubble. Here’s how you know: He quotes his own colleague Brett Kavanaugh six times. One for each beer in the pack. He even cites Kavanaugh on civil rights, which is like citing Amber Heard on how to make a bed. Chief Justice John Roberts said that the leak was “the work of one bad apple.” One bad apple is also another legal argument used in Alito’s opinion [his screen shows a picture of Eve in the Garden of Eden].Che continued:As a man, there’s no way I can understand the full impact of this issue. But I asked a bunch of women around the office what their personal experience was with abortion, and I’ve got to admit, I learned a lot from the HR meeting they made me go to.But I do know this ruling will have a disproportionate effect on poor people. I mean, most Americans don’t have access to the same resources that I do. The average person can’t just text Lorne in the middle of the night and say, “Yo, it happened again.” I just don’t get why Republicans are so against this. Maybe don’t think of it as an abortion. Think of it as a patriot storming a uterus to overturn the results of an unfair pregnancy.Weekend Update Desk Segment of the WeekMcKinnon, who for many years was “S.N.L.”’s resident impersonator of the liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appeared this week at the Update desk to play her conservative successor, Justice Amy Coney Barrett.Playing Barrett in a comic back-and-forth with Jost, McKinnon tried to tamp down the perception that she was pleased about the overturning of Roe v. Wade. “I don’t know what would make you think that, other than everything I’ve ever said,” she explained.McKinnon also emphasized so-called safe-haven laws that allow parents to give up custody of an infant.“Give it to a stork and the stork will give it to a lesbian,” she said. “I would think that lesbians would be happy because now there’s more babies for them to adopt. Until we ban that, too.” More

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      Fred Savage Fired From ‘The Wonder Years’ Over Misconduct Allegations

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      The former child star of the original television series was dropped as director of a reboot after allegations of “inappropriate conduct,” 20th Television said.Fred Savage, the former child star of the television comedy “The Wonder Years,” has been fired as an executive producer and director of a reboot of the show after allegations of “inappropriate conduct,” the studio behind the new series said in a statement on Saturday.“Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched,” the statement from 20th Television said. “Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of ‘The Wonder Years.’”The studio did not provide additional details or immediately respond to follow-up questions on Saturday. Representatives for Mr. Savage did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Deadline reported the news of his firing on Friday.Mr. Savage, 45, was a child when the original “The Wonder Years” premiered in 1988 on ABC, kick-starting his career with his portrayal of the suburban, sunny middle schooler Kevin Arnold. The television comedy — a nostalgic look back at 1968 from the vantage of 1988 — was acclaimed at the time and brought Mr. Savage two Emmy Award nominations. The show aired until 1993.A new version of the show premiered in 2021 on ABC, this time focusing on a Black family in Montgomery, Ala., in the 1960s, with Don Cheadle serving as the narrator.Mr. Savage told The Hollywood Reporter in January that he had reservations about rebooting the show. But when the idea of centering it on a Black family was presented to him, he was on board.“I had to kind of get over myself a bit and realize that we were telling a new story,” he said.Mr. Savage has faced accusations of misconduct in the past.In 2018, Alley Mills, who played Mr. Savage’s television mother, Norma, in “The Wonder Years,” said in an interview with Yahoo that a costume designer for the show filed a sexual harassment suit in 1993 against Mr. Savage, then 16, and Jason Hervey, then 20 and an actor on the show who played the older brother, Wayne, claiming the actors had verbally and physically harassed her.“It was so not true,” Ms. Mills said at the time, adding that the lawsuit had been a major factor in the show’s cancellation that year. “It was my dresser, and I don’t care if she’s listening — I probably shouldn’t be telling this, but I don’t care.”Representatives for Mr. Savage and Mr. Hervey had denied those claims, the The Los Angeles Times reported.That same year, Mr. Savage was also accused of creating a hostile work environment and being verbally abusive in a lawsuit filed by a costume designer on his Fox television series, “The Grinder.” Mr. Savage denied the allegations, and the suit was later dismissed, according to The Hollywood Reporter. More

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      ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2, Episode 10 Recap: Q’s Last Gift

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      The “Picard” crew tries to find its way home.Season 2, Episode 10: ‘Farewell’So after all that, all the Jurati-Borg Queen combination had to do was show up earlier and none of the this season’s craziness would’ve happened?A very funny moment comes when an Excelsior crew member, during the “Picard” finale’s climax, wonders what happened to Rios, who was left behind in the 21st century. Picard snaps, “Stay on task, helm. That’s an order.” That’s essentially how the show’s writers have treated the audience for most of its two-season run. Don’t worry about the things that don’t make sense. Just focus on where the story is going.In this case, what the story reveals to us is that Q, in his dying moments, wanted to let Picard know that his mother’s death wasn’t his fault. (Why is Q dying? Of what? It’s never explained.) And that the first step to Picard finding love was for him to love himself. It’s a wonderful lesson, except, as Picard points out, there were innocent people who died along the way for a life lesson.Not that Q cares. And neither does Picard, it turns out, because Picard gives his soon-to-be-deceased tormentor a hug. It’s a touching moment. The thing is, everything we’ve seen in “Picard” has taught us that what is dead will never die. There is no reason to believe that Q is actually dying, in the traditional sense, because no major character dies in this show. This includes even the ones who do, because they’re just brought back later — sometimes with a literal snap of a finger, like our old friend Elnor. (If I was Picard, I might have asked Q for some other people to be brought back to life. “Hey, while you’re at it, instead of bringing back Elnor, whom I’m not that close to, would you mind bringing back Data? Or Tasha Yar?)John de Lancie did a wonderful job as Q, as he normally does. But the way the character was written this season felt off. If all this was to teach Picard forgiveness, why did Q seem so angry and vindictive earlier in the season? Recall his previous conversations with Soong, where he seemed to imply he wanted to get revenge on Picard.Odds and EndsSo after all the talk about shifting the timeline with the slightest use of futuristic technology, Rios ends up staying behind in the 21st century with Teresa with centuries worth of knowledge in his head. We find out from Guinan that he didn’t use much of that knowledge. Rios is a better man than me. If I went back in time 400 years and stayed there, I would be known as the inventor of cars, the iPhone, electricity and Twitter.That was a really lovely return from Wil Wheaton as the Traveler formerly known as Wesley Crusher. I have no idea if this is a one off, or if he’ll factor into next season, when the “Next Generation” cast returns. But Wesley was a character who generally got the short end of the stick in the original “Next Generation.” (The last we saw of him — when he was spotted at Riker and Troi’s wedding in “Nemesis” — he seemed to have returned to Starfleet.)Soong pulling out the folder labeled “Project Khan” gives us a hint of what next season will be about. We know Soong is an expert in genetics and that the greatest villain in all of “Trek,” Khan Noonien Singh, was a result of genetic experimentation. This looks like a precursor to the Eugenics Wars. Should be fun!Alison Pill has already said she’s not coming back for Season 3 of “Picard,” and with Rios now dead in the past, I’m wondering how much of the “Picard” crew comes back, if at all. Maybe next season will really be a “Next Generation” season.What’s up with the transwarp conduit that Jurati-Borg Queen want to find out about? That could also be a hint for Season 3. There are just so many questions about what the Borg have been up to in the past 400 years. Were they hiding from the Evil Borg? Did the previous assimilation attempts not happen? Stay on task, helm! That’s an order!A farewell to the Watcher, Tallinn, who stays away and watches until she doesn’t. Who had special powers, except for when she didn’t.Finally, what happened to the F.B.I. agent, Martin Wells? Imagine working your whole life to find out if aliens exist, having your theory confirmed and then … what? More

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      Trevor Noah Has Thoughts on the Rise in Interest Rates

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      Noah blamed inflation on “the pandemic, supply chain issues and a Russian man who clearly wasn’t hugged enough as a child.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.High Level of InterestThe Fed raised interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday in an effort to curb inflation.On Thursday’s “Daily Show,” Trevor Noah blamed inflation on “the pandemic, supply chain issues and a Russian man who clearly wasn’t hugged enough as a child.”“And because of that, everything costs more: groceries, gas, blackmail. It’s terrible!” — TREVOR NOAH“Think of the economy like a house party, all right? Yeah, you want it to be banging, you know what I mean? You want it to be banging, but you don’t want it to get out of control because then no one can get a drink, and everyone is punching and fighting over what is left — it’s chaos, basically, it’s chaos! So raising the interest rate is like trying to calm the party down. But if you’re too extreme and you call the cops or you turn on the light and everyone sees who they were dancing with, now the party ends. The whole thing shuts down, that’s the recession of a party. So what the Federal Reserve is trying to do is change the players just enough so people stay, but then also make sure that nobody is dancing on the table.” — TREVOR NOAH“After yesterday’s rate hike, the markets went up 932 points. Pretty good. But this morning, as one reporter described it, ‘Investors woke up with a binge-trading hangover.’ Oh, you’ve got to be careful when you binge-trade; otherwise, you could wake up next to a stock you don’t even remember acquiring.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Then today, everything went kablooey. The Dow tumbled over 1,000 points, in the worst day of the year so far, eclipsing the previous worst day of the year: every day of the year.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Mexican St. Patrick’s Day Edition)“Happy Cinco de Mayo. Yeah, it’s that one day when people are excited to hear someone say, ‘I’ve got Corona!’” — JIMMY FALLON“What a day after two years of working from home — it was nice to have those vaguely problematic parties back in the office again.” — JIMMY FALLON“Meanwhile, today President Biden hosted a Cinco de Mayo reception in the Rose Garden with the first lady of Mexico. Yeah, Biden talked about the warm relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. It’s better than Trump’s message on Cinco de Mayo, which was ‘Think outside the bun.’” — JIMMY FALLON“Now, a lot of people mistakenly believe that today is Mexican Independence Day. It’s not — it’s Mexican St. Patrick’s Day. That’s why we drink green margaritas.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Cinco de Mayo isn’t even celebrated in all of Mexico. And here in the U.S., it only began to take off in the 1970s and ’80s, when brewing companies began capitalizing on it as a way to appeal to consumers. Wow, promoting a holiday for corporations to make money? That is so — that is so crass. I can’t believe it. You know, breaks your heart. Well, at least we’ll always have the Feast of St. Oktoberfest.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingAhead of Mother’s Day this weekend, celebrities like Kristen Bell, Andy Cohen and Sandra Oh read texts from their moms on Thursday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”Also, Check This OutOn her show, “Oh God, a Show About Abortion,” Alison Leiby addressed the news that the Supreme Court could be on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade. Desiree Rios for The New York TimesAlison Leiby had just performed her show “Oh God, a Show About Abortion” when she learned of the leaked draft opinion showing that the Supreme Court could be on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade. More

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      Frank Langella Blames ‘Cancel Culture’ After Firing From Netflix Show

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      The actor said his dismissal from “The Fall of the House of Usher” followed a love scene in which the actress playing his wife accused him of touching her leg.Frank Langella, who was fired in April from his leading role in a Netflix mini-series after a misconduct investigation, said on Thursday that his dismissal followed a love scene in which the actress playing his wife accused him of touching her leg — an action not in the script.“She then turned and walked off the set, followed by the director and the intimacy coordinator,” Langella wrote in a column for Deadline, about a March 25 incident on the set of “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The series is based on works by Edgar Allan Poe and created by Mike Flanagan.“I attempted to follow, but was asked to ‘give her some space.’ I waited for approximately one hour, and was then told she was not returning to set and we were wrapped,” Langella wrote.Langella said he and the actress were both clothed during the scene. During the ensuing investigation, he said, someone in human resources told him that the intimacy coordinator had suggested where the actors should place their hands during the scene. Langella called the instructions “absurd,” he said.“It was a love scene on camera,” Langella said. “Legislating the placement of hands, to my mind, is ludicrous. It undermines instinct and spontaneity.” Referring to the human resources employee, Langella wrote, “Toward the end of our conversation, she suggested that I not contact the young lady, the intimacy coordinator, or anyone else in the company. ‘We don’t want to risk retaliation,’ she said.”Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday evening.Langella said that he had been “canceled,” and that the harm to him has been “incalculable,” including losing a thrilling part, facing a stretch of unemployment and suffering a tarnished reputation. These indignities, he said, are “the real definition of unacceptable behavior.”“Cancel culture is the antithesis of democracy,” he said. “It inhibits conversation and debate. It limits our ability to listen, mediate, and exchange opposing views. Most tragically, it annihilates moral judgment. This is not fair. This is not just. This is not American.”The production plans to recast Langella’s role as Roderick, the reclusive patriarch of the Usher family, and reshoot the scenes in which he had already appeared. The series also stars Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell and Mark Hamill, among others.Langella, 84, known for his performances both onscreen and onstage, shot to fame in the title role of the 1979 film “Dracula” after starring in a Broadway production as the count. He also played President Richard M. Nixon in both the stage and screen versions of “Frost/Nixon,” earning an Oscar nomination as well as a Tony Award for best actor in a play in 2007. Recently, Langella appeared as the judge in the Netflix film “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” More

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      Seth Meyers Is Tired of Republicans’ Playing the Victim

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      “Do all these pundits whining about the leak really think this is what will shatter the integrity of the court?” Meyers said of the disclosure of a draft ruling from the Supreme Court overturning abortion rights.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Whose Choice?Right-wing politicians and television networks responded to the news of the leak of a draft Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade this week by focusing not on the content of the leak, but on revealing the identity of the leaker.“How will they ever recover from this breach of their personal privacy?” Seth Meyers asked. “Maybe Samuel Alito can start wearing a shirt that says, ‘My judicial body, my choice.’”“And how do you know it’s a liberal? It could have just as easily been a conservative — [coughs] Ginni Thomas [coughs] — who leaked the opinion to freeze the majority in place and stop the chief justice, John Roberts, from trying to convince one of the other court’s conservatives to soften their stance. I have no idea, but the fact that they’re all freaking out about the leak instead of celebrating the victory is telling. It underscores yet again that even at the height of their powers, these people always have to play the victim. If they won a free car on ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ they’d immediately start whining: ‘But I already have two cars in my garage — I don’t have space for a brand-new Stingray. This is so unfair!’” — SETH MEYERS“Yes, a left-wing Antifa law clerk trying to sabotage the court, or a right-wing MAGA head trying to lock the decision in place. Or maybe it was the butler. It’s always the butler.” — TREVOR NOAH“Do all these pundits whining about the leak really think this is what will shatter the integrity of the court? Not the fact that Republicans stole a seat from President Obama or the fact that several of their nominees apparently lied to the Senate about their positions on Roe, or the fact that one of them called opposition to his nomination based on credible sexual assault allegations a smear campaign orchestrated by shadowy left-wing groups and the Clintons? I could go on, so I will.” — SETH MEYERS“Look, I can understand the argument that this leak is bad for the institution of the Supreme Court. But come on — did you think waiting to release it this summer was going to make it a hot beach read? ‘Your Body, His Choice.’” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Star Wars Day Edition)“Guys, today is May the 4th, also known as Star Wars Day — as in ‘May the fourth be with you.’ That’s right, Star Wars’Day, or for guys in their 30s celebrating it, Solo de Mayo.” — JIMMY FALLON“Ah, but Star Wars Day is interesting, ’cause it’s the one time of year when Tinder tries to match you with your sister, you know what I’m saying? You haven’t seen the movie? Don’t blame me; blame George Lucas. I didn’t write it.” — JIMMY FALLON“‘Star Wars’ is one of the only movie franchises with its own holiday. You don’t see anybody dressing up as Vin Diesel and wishing you a happy Fast 5th.’” — MIKE BIRBIGLIA, guest-hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live”The Bits Worth WatchingNorah Jones performed her hit “Don’t Know Why” on Wednesday’s “Tonight Show” in celebration of her 20th anniversary super-deluxe edition of her Grammy-winning album “Come Away With Me.”What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightThe “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder will appear on Thursday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”Also, Check This OutDrag performers from Hell in a Handbag Productions shopped at Golden-Con, where vendors sold sundry items like “Golden Girls” fans.Evan Jenkins for The New York TimesThousands of “Golden Girls” fans gathered in Chicago for Golden-Con, a celebration of their favorite TV show. More

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      ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Review: Who’s Mad?

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      Benedict Cumberbatch returns for some more mystic Marvel mumbo-jumbo, though Sam Raimi manages to inject a sense of horror every now and then.Strange? Madness? Let’s not get carried away.I’m aware that Strange is the gentleman’s surname — his friends call him Stephen — and that he does indeed have a medical degree. Proper credentials are important in the superhero meritocracy. But like many of his colleagues in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Dr. Strange (as played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is at most mildly idiosyncratic, with hints of eccentricity in matters of dress and grooming and a whisper of pretentiousness in his attitude. If you call the enchanted garment that drapes itself over his shoulders a cape, he will be sure to remind you that it is properly described as a cloak.As for madness, the boilerplate on the Disney-Marvel intellectual property terms of service establishes strict parameters for just how crazy things can get. The surprises that await you in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” — likely to elicit whoops and giggles of fan gratification rather than gasps of genuine wonder — have mostly to do with which other Marvel characters show up and in what company. The ones closely associated with Dr. Strange, like Wong (Benedict Wong) and Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), are not unexpected. Not unwelcome either. Nor is a new sidekick named America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a teenager with impressive powers but no superheroic identity just yet.The studio has asked reviewers not to say much more, a request that itself gives away the whole point of the movie. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” like so many entries in the Marvel canon, functions primarily as an advertisement for and a footnote to other stories. The title may promise abundance, but this cosmos is as gated and defended as any theme park. The signs posted here direct you mostly to the Disney+ pseudo-sitcom “WandaVision” — Elizabeth Olsen returns as Wanda Maximoff, also known as the Scarlet Witch — and the last two “Avengers” movies. Not that advance preparation is required. The ingenuity of the M.C.U. is that you can enter at any point and jump around at will.Which brings us — heavy sigh — to the multiverse, a narrative conceit recently deployed with infinitely more wit and imagination by the directing duo Daniels in the blessedly unfranchised “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The “Doctor Strange” rendition is a succession of remarkably similar green-screen projections, with nothing much to distinguish one universe from another. At one point Strange is asked about his universe, which is also ours. “It’s beautiful,” he says, and while I wouldn’t argue with that answer, it does somehow reveal the smallness of this supercosmic vision.Explore the Marvel Cinematic UniverseThe popular franchise of superhero films and TV series continues to expand.‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’: With a touch of horror, the franchise’s newest film returns to the world of the mystic arts.‘Moon Knight’: In the Disney+ mini-series, Oscar Isaac plays a caped crusader who struggles with dissociative identity disorder.‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: In the latest installment of the “Spider-Man” series, the web slinger continues to radiate sweet, earnest decency.‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’: The superhero originated in comics filled with racist stereotypes. The movie knocked them down.In one of the other universes, there’s no such person as Spider-Man. Let that sink in. An alternate New York City has tropical flora, canals and a statue of Stephen Strange. Green means stop and red means go. Somewhere, Wanda Maximoff tends sheep in an apple orchard, unless she’s pruning apple trees in a sheep meadow.Most of it looks a lot like Marvel, at least in the first half of the movie, which was directed by Sam Raimi from a script by Michael Waldron. There is a lot of chasing and fighting, with bolts of red, blue or orange light shooting out of characters’ hands. The action happens in generic spaces that evoke no particular place or planet, and periodically stops for a mild joke, a carefully modulated expression of feeling or an explanation of something that might not have needed so much explaining. There are two magic books, one of which is also a shrine at the top of a mountain. The story makes apocalyptic stakes — the fate of the multiverse; the struggle between good and evil — seem curiously trivial.But as so often happens in the Marvel Cinematic Weltanschauung — often enough to keep even skeptics from giving up on the enterprise entirely — there is an inkling of something more interesting, in this case a Sam Raimi movie.Raimi is one of the pioneers of 21st-century movie superheroism. His Spider-Man trilogy from the early 2000s still feels relatively fresh and fun. He is also a master of horror, the creator back in the 1980s of the peerlessly ghoulish, funny and profound “Evil Dead” series. And the best parts of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” are the sequences that traffic in zombiism, witchcraft and other dark genre arts.The creepy-crawly visual effects are much better than the fight scenes, and a sequence in which Danny Elfman’s musical score comes to life (with help from J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor) has the conceptual wit and visual brio of a Pixar short. Olsen, in both incarnations of her Jekyll-and-Hyde character — the doting, melancholy mother and the raging, vengeful sorceress — is scary not because of her destructive powers or her diabolical ambitions, but because she is so sad.The intensity of her maternal longing overshadows the romantic disappointment that follows Strange and Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). There isn’t much of a love story here. There isn’t much of anything, even as there’s too much of everything. That’s how the Marvel Cinematic Universe functions. Maybe it could be different. Maybe interesting directors like Raimi and Chloé Zhao (who followed the marvelous “Nomadland” with the forgettable “Eternals”) could be allowed to do something genuinely strange with their assignments. But maybe that way madness lies.Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessRated PG-13. Nothing too crazy. Running time: 2 hours 6 minutes. In theaters. More

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      What to Know Before Seeing ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

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      Why do Wanda Maximoff and our title hero seem to be zombies, and what is the Darkhold? Here’s a rundown and a viewing guide to help.It was already challenging enough to keep up with the 27 films and half-dozen Disney+ TV shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But now, in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” out Friday, you also have to keep track of multiple versions of Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), also known as the Scarlet Witch. And who knows who else — it is the multiverse, after all, so there are multiple versions of, well, everyone.The trailers for “Multiverse of Madness” have made it out to be a crossover event that’s maybe not “Avengers: Endgame”-level, but certainly close. Eagle-eyed fans will have spotted connections to “WandaVision,” “Loki” and even zombie versions of a few characters, apparently from Episode 5 of the lesser-known Disney+ animated series “What If … ?,” as well as the M.C.U. debut of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, the founder of the X-Men.It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with more than three days’ worth of M.C.U. content, and there is, of course, the bare minimum option of watching the first “Doctor Strange” film and calling it a day. But those who didn’t watch “WandaVision” may be left going “Westview what?” after the new movie.Here’s a guide to the five films and series you might want to brush up on before heading to the theater.‘Doctor Strange’ (2016)Tilda Swinton and Cumberbatch in the first film.Walt Disney Studios Motion PicturesDr. Strange’s solo film debut provides a primer on how Cumberbatch’s cocky neurosurgeon, Stephen Strange, came to be a master of the mystic arts, the Sorcerer Supreme and the guardian of the Time Stone. It also introduces his tempestuous relationship with Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), who returns in a big way in the fourth episode of “What If… ?” and also appears in a “Multiverse of Madness” trailer in a wedding gown (apparently marrying a man who is definitely not Dr. Strange, as the latter looks on from a pew). Also making a trailer appearance is Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Strange’s onetime friend turned foe, as this film explains.‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)Benedict Wong, left, Cumberbatch, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. teamed up in “Avengers: Infinity War.”Marvel/DisneyIn Dr. Strange’s “Avengers” debut, he is kidnapped by Ebony Maw, who is after the Time Stone. Tony Stark and Peter Parker eventually rescue him, and it becomes evident how much more powerful he has become since “Doctor Strange,” as he holds his own against Thanos, the Eternal-Deviant warlord, despite possessing only a single Infinity Stone compared with Thanos’s four. Strange also breaks the rules and looks forward in time to see all the possible scenarios in which the Avengers win.The film plays an important role in establishing Wanda’s back story, as its events are the source of her grief in “WandaVision,” and continue to haunt her in “Multiverse of Madness.” In the earlier movie, Wanda was forced to kill Vision, with whom she was romantically involved, to prevent Thanos from stealing the Mind Stone from Vision’s head, only to watch Thanos reverse time, pluck it out and kill Vision again.‘WandaVision’ (2021)Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in the series.Marvel Studios/Disney+This retro-aesthetic Disney+ show is hardly peripheral; the nine-episode series, which pays homage to 1950s sitcoms like “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” supplies crucial plot details that set up the events of “Multiverse of Madness.” Wanda is essentially a co-lead of the new film, and this series illustrates how her grief over Vision’s death leads her to torment the small New Jersey town of Westview.When we last saw Wanda, in the finale’s post-credits scene, she’d just lost the versions of Vision and her twin sons she’d magically created, which led her to embrace her identity as the Scarlet Witch and begin exploring the Darkhold, a book of spells that could allow her to reunite with her now-nonexistent family.In “Multiverse of Madness,” a distraught Wanda is still struggling to process the original Vision’s death in “Avengers: Infinity War,” as well as her attempt to escape it in the fantasy she created in “WandaVision.” In one of the trailers, she is greeted by her sons in their Westview home, though Wanda’s voice-over identifies the apparently joyful reunion only as a recurring dream.‘What If … ?’ (2021)Strange variants in the animated “What If …?”Marvel Studios/Disney+This nine-episode animated anthology series, which tells the stories of alternate versions of M.C.U. heroes in multiple realities, debuted with little fanfare in August, but Episode 4 provides some important context for “Multiverse of Madness.” Titled “What If … Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?,” it introduces a variant of Dr. Strange, Strange Supreme, created after Strange lost his girlfriend, Christine, in a car crash and became consumed by dark magic. After she vanishes in his arms, the evil Dr. Strange rips apart reality and is left alone to nurse his broken heart.While it initially seemed, from his trailer appearance, as though the Strange Supreme variant would be a main antagonist of “Multiverse of Madness,” Cumberbatch said in a recent interview that the character was not, in fact, Strange Supreme but an even more menacing version: Sinister Strange.Still there are other “What If … ?” variants who seem to appear in “Multiverse of Madness,” including a live-action version of Captain Carter (voiced by Hayley Atwell in “What If … ?”), a Peggy Carter variant who received the super-soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers and appeared in a trailer fighting a variant of the Scarlet Witch. Also returning: the terrifying Zombie Wanda and Zombie Dr. Strange from Episode 5 (“What If … Zombies?!”), which probably explains why “Multiverse of Madness” is being billed as the M.C.U.’s first horror film. Episodes 8 and 9 also show Ultron discovering multiple realities and seeking to conquer them.‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2021)Tom Holland as Peter Parker, opposite Cumberbatch in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”Matt Kennedy/Sony PicturesThe director of “Multiverse of Madness,” Sam Raimi, has said that the new film is a direct continuation of the last Marvel Studios blockbuster, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” released in December. When we last saw Dr. Strange, he’d just caused everyone to forget the existence of Peter Parker to stop the multiverse from exploding. This was necessary because of a botched spell Dr. Strange had cast that was designed to make everyone forget Peter was Spider-Man, which only ended up pulling Spider-Men and villains from alternate M.C.U. universes into the same one. At the end of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the spell appears to have worked, but it remains to be seen if or how the consequences of Dr. Strange’s actions will play into “Multiverse of Madness.”Bonus: ‘Loki’ (2021)Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius and Tom Hiddleston as Loki in the series. Marvel/Disney+Will we see the hopelessly bureaucratic Time Variance Authority, an organization that polices time travel to prevent branching timelines, show up to bust some time travelers in “Multiverse of Madness”? The stand-alone “Loki” series, which takes place in an alternate M.C.U. timeline, also explains the idea of variants from different timelines (among them: Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki and Alligator Loki). More